UJ 


H.  FOSTER  BAuj 


UM  GEOLOGICAL  SURiD 


REVISED 


•j 

H.  FOSTER  BAIN'. 

Pocket  Geologist, 


mineralogist 


OR 


SIXTEEN  CHAPTERS 


ON 

Coals,  Oils,  Ores  and  Other  Minerals, 


FOR 


a yj  xv 

Practical  People  who  have  Time  to  Make  Money. 


I- BOTTOM  facts  and  bed  rocks 

II—  THE  COAL  MEASURES. 

HI— OIL  AND  GAS. 

IV.— IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES 
A.-  GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES 
v I— COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES 
YH— lead  AND  ZINC  ORES. 

VIII.— OTCKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME  ORFS 

n-imiom,  merocky,  plat™  1 
xt-OR^  precI°US  stones.  ■ 

xh^cementTInd “a Y8mLDma  STOms- 
ML-SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 

XIV.  — MINERAL  PAINTS. 

XV. — GRITS  AND  SPARS 

XVI.-OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 

—<—*$  1890. 

204  Pages  Cloth  Bound-Flap  Cover  with  Pocket 

PRICE  ONE  DOLLAR,  Post  Paid. 
FREDERICK  H.  SMITH, 
ENGINEER  & GEOLOGIST, 

227  E.  GERMAN  STREET,  - . BALTIMORE,  MD. 


This  Pocket  Book  is  a revision  and  combination  of  the 
writer’s  two  former  volumes — the  “Pocket  Geologist,”  of  1877, 
and  “Rocks,  Minerals  and  Stocks,”  of  1882,— with  some  omis- 
sions, alterations  and  additions  to  bring  it  np  to  date.  It  is 
written,  not  for  the  scientist,  but  for  practical  people  who  have 
time  to  make  money.  It  contains  204  pages,  excluding  index  &e., 
is  bound  in  cloth  with  pocket  and  flap,  and  is  mailed  postpaid  on 
receipt  of  the  low  price  of  One  Dollar,  to  cover  its  costs  and 
charges,  as  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a professional  card,  and 
is  intended  to  advance  the  writer’s  business  as  well  as  the 
reader’s  interests. 

The  writer’s  correspondence  shows  many  instances  of  profit- 
able mineral  enterprises  now  being  prosecuted  by  men  who  got 
their  first  ideas  on  mineral  subjects  from  his  two  earlier  volumes, 
and  he  expects  even  better  results  from  this,  as  it  is  in  better 
shape  for  con  venient  use.  He  will  always  be  glad  to  hear  from 
his  readers  concerning  their  mineral  ventures,  but  he  begs  to  re- 
mind them  that  all  mail  or  express  charges  should  be  prepaid, 
that  a chemist’s  assay  costs,  prepaid,  from  five  to  fifteen  dollars, 
according  to  the  number  of  elements  determined,  and  that  an 
engineer  and  geologist,  also,  requires  some  prepaid  consultation 
fees  when  his  professional  opinion  or  advice  is  asked.  But  it  is 
expected  that  the  information  contained  in  this  new  “Pocket 
Geologist”  will,  generally,  enable  the  reader  to  answer  his  own 
questions.  F.  H.  S. 


Member  Am.  Soe.  Civil  1 
Member  A 


jineers. 

. Electrical  1 


FREDERICK  H.  SMITH, 
Consulting  & Bridge  Engineer, 
GEOLOGIST, 

227  E.  German  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


Copyrighted,  1890,  by  Frederick  H.  Smith. 


CONTENTS 


5S5 

CBn~y\'S  V 


I. — Bottom  Facts  and  Bed  Rocks. 

Plain  Language  — Mineral  Elements  — Mineral  Compounds  — Igneous 
Rocks  — Transition  Rocks  — Aqueous  Rocks  — Geological  Chart  — 
Fossil  Earmarks  — Veins  and  Beds. 


II. — The  Coal  Measures. 

Carbon— Bituminous  Coal,  Anthracite,  Cannel,  Splint,  Block,  Lignite, 
Peat,  Coke.  Position  — False  Coals,  Lower  Coals,  Upper  Coals, 
Triassic  Coals,  Tertiary  Coals. 


III. — Oil  and  Gas. 

Petroleum— Oil  and  Gas  bearing  Strata,  Oil  and  Gas  catching  Strata, 
Oil  Breaks,  Oil  and  Gas  Springs,  Oil  and  Gas  Prospects. — Remarks. 


IY. — Iron  and  Manganese  Ores. 

Iron— Magnetite,  Hematite,  Limonite,  Siderite,  Pyrite.  Manganese— 
Glance,  Pyrolusite,  Manganite,  Psilomelane,  Wad,  Rhodocrocite. 

Y. — Gold  and  Silver  Ores. 

Gold— Vein  Gold,  in  Pyrite,  in  Quartz,  in  Tellurium — Wash  Gold,  in 
Slate,  in  Sand,  in  Gravel,  in  Clay,  in  Sea  Water  — Gold  Saving  — 
Gold  Testing.  Silver  — Silver  Ores:  Silver  Glance,  Horn  Silver, 
Ruby  Silver,  Antimonial  Silver,  Stephanite,  other  Ores — Silver 
Saving — Silver  Testing. 

YI. — Copper  and  Tin  Ores. 

Copper  — Chalcopyrite,  Enargite,  Tetrahedrite,  Chalcocite,  Bomite, 
Cuprite,  Melaconite,  Chrysocalla.  Tin — Tinstone,  Stannite. 


YII. — Lead  and  Zinc  Ores. 

Lead — Galena,  Carbonate,  Phosgenite,  Leadhillite,  Sartorite.  Zinc — 
Zinc  Blende,  Calamine,  Smithsonite,  Zincite,  Gahnite. 

YIII. — Nickel,  Cobalt  and  Chrome  Ores. 
Nickel— Pyrrhotite,  Millerite,  Nickelite,  Glance.  Cobalt — Smaltite, 
Cobaltite,  Cobalt  Pyrite,  Cobalt  Bloom.  Chrome — Chromite. 


CONTENTS. 


IX. — Antimony,  Mercury,  Platinum,  &c. 

Antimony  — Antimony  Glance.  Mercury  — Amalgam,  Cinnabar. 

Platinum — Aluminum — Uranium. 

X. — Gems  and  Precious  Stones. 

Agate  — Alabaster  — Amber  — Amethyst  — Aquamarine  — Carnelian  — 
Chrysoberyl  — Chrysoprase  — Diamond  — Emerald  — Garnet  — Hya- 
cinth — Jasper  — Lazulite  — Meerschaum  — Onyx  — Opal  — Ruby  — 
Sapphire  — Topaz  — Tourmaline  — Turquoise  — Ultramarine  — Jade. 

XI. — Ornamental  and  Building  Stones. 

Serpentine  — Malachite  — Mexican  Onyx  — Marble — Limestone  — Sand- 
stone — Slate  — Granite  — Syenite  — Gneiss  — Porphyry. 

XII. — Cements  and  Clays. 

Cements — Rosendale,  Cumberland,  Selenite,  Portland,  Roman.  Clays — 
Brick  Clay,  Potters’  Clay,  Fire  Clay,  Kaolin,  Bauxite,  Dinas. 

XIII. — Salts  and  Fertilizers. 

Salt  — Soda  — Borax  — Saltpetre  — Ammonia  — Gypsum  — Phosphate 
Rocks  — Potash  Rocks  — Marls. 

XIY. — Mineral  Paints. 

Ochre  — Umber  — Vermilion  — Smalt  — Ultramarine  — Aquamarine. 

XV. — Grits  and  Spars. 

Tripoli  — Corundum  — Emery  — Novaculite  — Barytes  — Feldspar  — 
Fluorspar  — Cryolite  — Strontia. 

XVI. — Other  Valuable  Minerals. 

Alum  — Asbestos  — Soapstone  — Talc  — Sulphur  — Graphite  — Asphalt  -* 
Mineral  Wax  — Mica. 


INDEX. 


I. 

BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


Plain  Language — Mineral  Elements — Mineral  Com- 
pounds— Igneous  Locks — Transition  Rocks — Aque- 
ous Rocks — Fossil  Earmarks — Veins  and  Beds. 


PLAIN  LANGUAGE. 

The  following  schedule  of  terms  and  definitions  will  be 
adhered  to,  as  closely  as  possible,  throughout  this  work : 

LUSTRE. 

The  lustre  of  minerals  is  an  important  feature,  and  is  to 
be  determined  from  freshly-broken  surfaces.  The  kinds  of 
lustre  are  as  follows : 

Metallic  is  the  lustre  of  polished  surfaces  of  metals  or 
freshly-broken  surfaces.  Imperfect  degrees  or  slightly 
tarnished  surfaces  are  sub-metallic. 

Adamantine  lustre  is  that  of  the  diamond  and  that  of  other 
real  gems.  Sometimes  it  is  clouded  by  the  metallic. 

Vitreous  lustre  is  that  of  broken  glass.  Sub-vitreous  is 
very  common.  White  quartz  is  often  vitreous, and  marble 
is  sub-vitreous. 

Resinous  lustre  is  that  of  the  resins,  balsams  and  clear 
gums. 

Pearly  lustre  is  that  of  pearl  and  mother-of-pearl,  and  is 
often  modified  by  the  metallic. 

Silky  lustre  is  the  peculiar  lustre  of  silk,  and  nearly  always 
due  to  fibrous  formation. 


6 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


' Lustre  lias  degrees  of  intensity  as  well  as  kinds,  but  we 
will  only  state  degrees  when  they  are  not  changeable. 
They  vary  so  greatly  with  the  different  angle  or  face  of  the 
mineral  presented  and  the  amount  of  light  available  that 
they  are  hardly  useful. 

TEXTURE. 

Texture  refers  to  the  particular  arrangement  of  the  grains, 
crystals,  sheets,  blocks,  or  other  bodies  going  to  make  up 
the  mass  of  the  specimen. 

Massive  texture  is  when  the  mineral  is  built  up  of  grains 
so  small  as  to  be  practicably  indistinguishable  by  the  un- 
aided eye. 

Granular  texture  is  when  the  mineral  is  a mass  of  grains 
large  enough  to  be  seen. 

Crystalline  texture  is  when  the  mass  is  built  up  of  one 
large  crystal  or  many  smaller  ones,  just  large  enough  not  to 
be  called  granular. 

Foliated  texture  is  when  the  mineral  is  a block  made  up  of 
sheets  or  plates  having  one  line  of  cleavage. 

Fibrous  texture  is  when  the  sheets  are  split  up  into  fibres 
or  strips  by  a second  line  of  cleavage. 

Tabular  texture  is  when  the  block  is  a mass  of  smaller 
blocks,  formed  by  three  cleavage  lines. 

The  massive,  granular  and  crystalline  textures  are  all 
granular,  really,  but  the  divisions  are  based  on  differences  in 
size  of  grain.  The  foliated,  fiorous  and  tabular  textures 
are  all  really  foliated,  whichever  way  we  turn  the  block, 
but  the  divisions  are  based  on  the  shapes  of  the  crystals, 
and  the  number  of  cleavage  lines  which  have  shaped  them. 

FEEL. 

The  ‘'feel”  of  a mineral  is  a very  useful  distinguishing 
feature.  The  feels  are  named  below : 

Greasy  is  the  feel  of  soapstone  and  other  magnesian  min- 
erals, such  as  French  chalk,  talc,  meerschaum,  asbestos,  etc. 

Harsh  is  the  feel  of  trachyte,  pumice,  basalt  and  other 
igneous  rocks,  but  more  especially  of  the  lavas. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


7 


Meagre  is  the  feel  of  the  softer  lime  minerals,  such  as 
chalk,  marl,  etc. 

CLEAVAGE. 

Many  minerals,  by  reason  of  crystallization  or  other 
causes,  break  into  plates  or  blocks,  the  fractures  occurring 
on  parallel  lines,  and  much  more  readily  on  those  lines  than 
in  other  directions.  Minerals  having  one  line  of  cleavage 
will  separate  into  sheets.  Two  lines  of  cleavage  split  the 
sheets  into  four-sided  bars  or  strips,  and  a third  line  of 
cleavage  will  cut  off  the  ends  of  the  bars,  making  blocks  of 
them.  All  the  faces  formed  by  the  cleavage  lines  are  plane 
and  smooth.  There  are  but  two  full  degrees  of  cleavage, 
perfect  and  imperfect,  and  intermediate  degrees  must  be 
fractionally  named,  if  expressed  at  all. 

CLEARNESS. 

Clearness  is  dependent  greatly  on  the  thickness  of  the 
specimen,  as  there  are  very  few  substances  which  cannot  be 
hammered  or  shaved  down  so  thin  that  they  will  transmit  a 
certain  amount  of  light,  especially  when  examined  under 
the  microscope.  Clearness  is  graded  as  follows : 

Transparent  is  when  outlines  and  details  of  objects  can  be 
seen  clearly  through  the  specimen.  When  the  outlines 
alone,  and  no  details,  can  be  distinguished  the  specimen  is 
semi-transparent. 

Translucent  is  when  light  is  transmitted  through  the  body 
of  a reasonably  thick  specimen,  but  no  images  are  outlined. 
It  is  classed  as  semi-translucent  when  the  light  passes 
through  the  thin  edges  of  a bevel-edged  piece,  but  does  not 
pass  through  the  body  of  the  specimen. 

Opaque  is  when  light  is  not  seen  by  the  naked  eye  to  pass 
through  any  portion  of  the  specimen. 

ELASTICITY. 

Nearly  all  minerals  have  more  or  less  elasticity,  and  the 
degrees  are  stated  as  follows : 

Elastic  is  when  the  mineral  will  spring  back  after  having 
been  bent.  Mica  is  an  example. 


8 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


Flexible  is  when  the  mineral  can  he  bent  without  breaking, 
but  will  not  spring  back  of  its  own  accord. 

Malleable  is  when  the  mineral  can  be  hammered  out  cold 
into  sheets  without  crumbling. 

Sectile  minerals  can  be  powdered  under  the  hammer,  but 
can  be  cut  into  sheets  or  slivers  with  the  knife. 

Brittle  minerals  break  up  when  cut,  bent  or  hammered. 

HARDNESS. 


This  quality  in  minerals  is  very  variable,  and  is  most 
reliable  and  useful  when  tested  with  or  on  freshly  broken 
edges  or  surfaces  of  homogeneous  composition.  Hardness 
is  expressed  in  the  following  scale  of  ten  degrees.  Diamond, 
being  the  hardest  known  substance,  is  placed  at  ten,  and 
other  well-known  substances  occupy  the  full  degrees: 


Diamond 10 

Corundum 9 

Topaz 8 

Quartz 7 

Feldspar 0 


Apatite 5 

Fluorspar 4 

Calcite 3 

Gypsum 2 

Talc 1 


By  testing  strange  minerals  on  any  of  those  named  in  the 
table,  the  comparative  hardness  of  the  strange  mineral  is 
determined.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  two  minerals  of  equal 
hardness  will  scratch  each  other  by  using  a sharp  edge  or 
corner  of  one  against  a surface  of  the  other,  and  vice  versa. 
Diamonds  are  thus  cut  by  means  of  their  own  dust;  the 
dust,  consisting  of  minute  grains  all  bristling  with  points 
and  edges,  cuts  away  rapidly  the  face  of  the  massive  crystal. 

This  is  also  true  of  minerals  of  almost  equal  hardness,  the 
point  or  edge  of  the  softest  cutting  slightly  into  the  face  of 
the  hardest.  Diamond  can  often  be  cut  by  corundum  in  this 
way.  Frequent  reversal  of  point  of  one  to  face  of  other,  and 
point  of  other  to  face  of  one,  and  careful  comparison,  will 
give  accurate  results.  Hardness  of  minerals  will  be  given  in 
this  book  in  the  descriptions.  - 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


9 


COLOR. 

Color  is  determined  from  observing  the  color  of  the  powder- 
1 specimen.  The  color  of  the  mass  very  often  differs  from 
tat  of  the  powder,  and  the  latter  is  the  only  reliable  color, 
or  instance,  the  iron  ore  limonite  (commonly  called  brown 
3matite)  is  red,  brown,  purple,  black  or  yellow  in  mass,  but 
3 powder  is  always  yellow.  The  best  way  to  determine 
dor  is  to  file  or  grind  off  some  powder  and  examine  it  when 
ing  on  a sheet  of  white  or  black  paper  or  china  or  slate, 
it  when  the  mineral  is  soft  enough  to  l^ave  a streak  by 
bbing  it  on  black  slate  or  white  china,  that  method  is  best. 

' stating  the  colors  of  minerals  we  will  use  just  such  names 
we  all  understand. 

FRACTURE. 

Fracture  refers  to  the  appearance  of  the  broken  surface  of 
mineral  when  freshly  fractured  across  the  line  of  cleavage 
lamination. 

Conchoidal  fracture  is  when  the  surfaces  are  roughly  curved 
to  concave  and  convex,  somewhat  like  a ball-and-socket 
rangement. 

Even  fracture  is  when  the  surfaces  are  flat  planes,  but  differ 
>m  cleavage  planes  in  being  spotted  over  with  holes  and 
ints. 

Uneven  fracture  is  when  the  rough  points  and  holes  cover 
) whole  fractured  surface;  in  other  words,  the  surface  is 
ogether  irregular  and  unsystematic,  ragged  and  rough. 

SPECIFIC  GRAVITY. 

This  is  the  actual  weight  or  density  per  cubic  inch,  or  other 
it,  of  any  substance  when  compared  with  the  weight  of 
; same  bulk  of  pure  water.  The  specific  weights  of  some 
11-known  substances  are  below  : 


SUBSTANCE. 

GRAVITY.  1 SUBSTANCE. 

GRAVITY. 

Ice 

1 n 

Fresh  water 

Sea  water 

10 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


SUBSTANCE.  GRAVITY. 


Marble 

Aluminum 

Quartz 

Talc 

Feldspar 

Flint  Glass 

Fluorspar  

Diamond 

Topaz 

Corundum 

Barytes 

....4.5 

Average  of  our  Globe 

....5.2 

SUBSTANCE.  GRAVITY. 

Antimony 6.7 

Zinc 7.2 

Tin 7.3 

Iron,  wrought 7.7 

Cobalt 7.8 

Manganese 8.0 

Nickel 8.2 

Copper 8.9 

Silver 10.5 

Lead 11.4 

Mercury 13.6 

Gold  ... .: 19.3 


The  determination  of  tlie  specific  gravity  of  any  substance 
is  made  by  weighing  a piece  of  dry  mineral  first  in  the  air, 
and  then  weighing  it  again  when  submerged  in  water  and 
suspended  by  the  lightest  possible  thread  or  hair.  If  it 
weighs,  say,  ten  grains  in  the  air  and  eight  grains  in  the 
water,  the  difference  of  two  grains  is  the  weight  of  the  equal 
bulk  of  water  which  is  displaced.  The  specific  gravity  of 
the  mineral  is,  therefore,  five  (5.0),  as  the  dry  weight  of  ten 
is  five  times  as  great  as  the  two  grains  weight  of  the  equal 
bulk  of  water. 

When  the  mineral  is  soluble  in  water  but  not  soluble  in 
alcohol  or  other  fluid  whose  gravity  is  known,  the  mineral 
can  be  weighed  in  the  other  fluid,  and  the  results  reduced  to 
the  water  scale.  When  a specimen  contains  two  substances 
in  known  percentages,  and  the  gravity  of  one  of  them  only 
is  known,  the  gravity  of  the  other  is  a matter  of  simple 
arithmetic.  When  extreme  accuracy  is  required,  care  must 
be  taken  to  guard  against  changes  in  temperature,  as  even 
water  changes  slightly  its  density  with  thermal  changes. 
Sixty  degrees  above  zero  on  Fahrenheit’s  scale  is  the  standard 
for  air,  water  and  mineral  during  the  process  when  greatest 
accuracy  is  desirable. 

Powdered  or  porous  minerals  must  be  allowed  time  to 
absorb  all  the  water  possible  before  the  wet  weight  is  taken. 
The  air  lodged  in  the  cavities  of  the  mineral  tends  to  buoy 
up  the  mineral  when  it  is  submerged,  and  often  it  has  to  be 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


11 


boiled  in  order  to  expel  this  air.  The  rule  is  to  have  air  in 
the  cavities  when  the  dry  weight  is  being  taken,  and  water 
in  them  when  wet  weight  is  taken. 

The  water  molecules  enter  the  cavities  between  the  mineral 
molecules  pretty  much  as  a handful  of  small  bird-shot  will 
run  down  into  a glass  tumbler  already  full  of  large  buck-shot, 
and  yet  another  handful  of  fine,  clean  sand  will  run  down 
into  the  cavities  between  the  bird  shot.  An  ounce  or  two  of 
water  can  be  poured  into  the  tumbler  to  make  sure  of  filling 
up  the  cavities  between  the  sand  grains,  and  a grain  of 
cochineal  will  permeate  between  the  water  molecules  and 
dye  the  whole  alfair  scarlet.  A speck  of  musk  will  perfume 
it  all  through  by  the  same  process,  and  it  can  still  be  charged 
with  carbonic-acid  gas  or  salt.  And  still  the  sub-atoms  of  the 
ethereal  medium  may  be  ebbing  and  flowing  through  glass, 
lead,  water,  sand  and  all,  as  easily  as  an  evening  zephyr 
would  pass  through  a shad  seine  hung  out  to  dry.  The  so- 
called  supernatural  may  be  only  natural,  after  all. 


MINERAL  ELEMENTS. 

» 

At  present,  the  chemists  have  segregated  and  named  sixty- 
four  elements  or  simple  substances  out  of  which  this  entire 
globe,  and  all  its  contents  and  belongings  of  the  mineral, 
or  vegetable,  or  animal  kingdoms,  are  made  up.  The  names, 
symbols  and  atomic  weights  of  these  elements  are  as 
follows : 


Name. 

Symbol. 

Atomic  Weight. 

Aluminum 

AL 

27.3 

Antimony 

Sb 

122. 

Arsenic 

As 

75. 

Barium 

Ba 

137. 

Bismuth 

61 

208. 

Boron 

B 

11. 

Bromine 

Br 

80. 

12 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


Name. 

Symbol. 

Atomic  Weight. 

Cadmium 

Cd 

12. 

Caesium 

Cs 

133. 

Calcium 

Ca 

40. 

Carbon 

C 

12. 

Cerium 

Ce 

92. 

Chlorine 

Cl 

35.5 

Chromium 

Cr 

52. 

Cobalt 

Co 

59. 

Columbium  (Niobium) 

Cb  (Nb) 

94. 

Copper 

Cu 

63.4 

Didymium 

D 

96.5 

Erbium 

E 

112.6 

Fluorine 

F 

19. 

Gallium 

Ga 

. . c . 

Glucinum  (Beryllium) 

G (Be) 

9. 

Gold 

Au 

196. 

Hydrogen 

H 

1. 

Indium 

In 

113.4 

Iodine 

I 

127. 

Iridium 

Ir 

198. 

Iron 

Fe 

56. 

Lanthanum 

La 

92.5 

Lead 

Pb 

207. 

Lithium 

Li 

7. 

Magnesium 

Mg 

24. 

Manganese 

Mn 

55. 

Mercury 

Hg 

200. 

Molybdenum 

Mo 

96. 

Nickel 

Ni 

59. 

* Nitrogen 

N 

14. 

Osmium 

Os 

200. 

Oxygen 

0 

16. 

Palladium 

Pd 

106. 

Phosphorus 

P 

31. 

Platinum 

Pt 

198. 

Potassium 

K 

39. 

Rhodium 

Ro 

104. 

Rubidium 

Rb 

85.4 

Ruthenium 

Ru 

104. 

Selenium 

Se 

79. 

Silver 

Ag 

108. 

Silicon 

Si 

28. 

Sodium 

Na 

23. 

Strontium 

Sr 

88. 

Sulphur 

S 

32. 

BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


18 


Name. 

Symbol. 

Atomic  Weight. 

Tantalum 

Ta 

182. 

Tellurium 

Te 

128. 

Thallium 

T1 

204. 

Thorium 

Th 

231. 

Tin 

Sn 

118. 

Titanium 

Ti 

50. 

Tungsten 

W 

184. 

Uranium 

U 

240. 

Vanadium 

V 

51.4 

Yttrium 

Y 

61.7 

Zinc 

Zn 

65. 

Zirconium 

Zr 

90. 

The  above-named  substances  are  called  elements  because 
science  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  splitting  up  any  one  of 
them  into  atoms  of  two  or  more  of  the  others  ; but  how  soon 
this  will  be  done  we  can’t  tell.  Already  an  Austrian  chemist 
has  announced  that  the  exact  atomic  weights  of  a large 
number  of  the  elements  bear  a multiple  relation  to  those  of 
the  four  chief  elements:  oxygen,  carbon,  nitrogen  and 

hydrogen.  He  thinks  that  eventually  all  the  other  elements 
will  be  shown  to  be  derived  from  these  four  in  different 
combinations,  and  that  possibly  these  four  may  be  reduced 
to  hydrogen  only,  or  to  some  one  still  unknown. 

At  present  the  physical  conditions  of  the  different  sub- 
stances are  very  various.  Oxygen,  hydrogen  and  nitrogen 
are  supposed  to  be  fixed  gases.  Fluorine  and  chlorine  are 
also  gases,  but  can  be  liquefied.  Bromine  and  mercury  are 
liquids  easily  vaporized,  while  the  others  are  solid  at  ordi- 
nary temperatures. 

MATTER  AND  ENERGY. 

The  word  matter  includes  within  its  meaning  all  substances 
of  all  kinds  known  to  the  senses  or  to  the  imaginations  of 
of  men,  whether  those  substances  be  solid,  liquid,  vaporous, 
gaseous  or  ultra-gaseous,  whatever  that  may  mean.  All 
experience  goes  to  show  that  matter  is  indestructible  by  any 
agency,  but  whether  or  not  that  indestructibility  reaches 
backward  or  forward  into  the  Infinite  we  can  know  nothing 


14 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


about.  We  have  no  evidence  at  all  bearing  on  the  case,  so 
we  take  it  as  we  find  it,  and  we  find  that  although  we  can 
change  matter  from  one  condition  to  another  condition,  we 
cannot  destroy  it  nor  change  any  one  kind  of  matter  into 
another  kind  of  matter.  Iron  will  be  iron,  whether  solid, 
liquid  or  gaseous,  and  that  is  about  as  far  as  we  have  got. 

The  word  energy  includes  within  its  meaning  all  forms  of 
force,  active  or  latent,  such  as  heat,  light,  motion,  weight, 
cohesion,  repulsion,  attraction,  electricity,  magnetism,  affinity 
and  all  other  forms  and  sub-forms  and  appearances.  Energy, 
like  matter,  is  indestructible  so  far  as  we  know,  but  we  can 
change  one  kind  of  energy  into  another,  and  so  on  through 
the  list,  without  having  annihilated  it,  or  left  any  of  its 
units  unaccounted  for. 

ATOMS  AND  MOLECULES. 

Matter  is  infinitely  divisible ; its  attribute,  energy,  accom- 
panies it  down  through  all  its  subdivisions,  and  we  arc  unable 
to  conceive  of  any  particle  of  matter  so  small  but  that  it 
may  be  composed  of  two  or  more  still  smaller  particles  held 
together  by  some  form  of  energy.  For  practical  purposes, 
however,  we  must  assume  a temporary  stopping  place  in 
this  process  of  subdivision,  so  we  call  that  a molecule  which 
is  supposed  to  be  the  smallest  particle  of  any  one  substance 
which  retains  all  the  properties  of  the  same  substance  in 
larger  parcels.  This  molecule  is  the  physical  unit,  and  all 
larger  amounts  of  the  same  substance  are  simply  bundles  or 
agglomerations  of  these  molecules. 

These  molecules  themselves  are  divisible  into  two  or  more 
smaller  particles  called  atoms , which  are  the  chemical  units 
of  matter,  and  are  supposed  to  contain  only  the  chemical 
forms  of  energy.  Thus  water  is  a mass  of  molecules,  each 
one  being  the  smallest  bit  of  water  that  can  exist  and  still 
have  weight,  fluidity,  wetness  and  all  the  other  properties  of 
water.  This  molecule  contains  three  atoms,  viz.:  one  of 
oxygen  and  two  of  hydrogen,  which  are  held  together  by 
chemical  energy.  The  water  molecule  is  a compound  mole- 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


15 


cule,  composed  of  atoms  of  different  elements  or  substances; 
but  there  are  simple  molecules  composed  of  enough  atoms 
of  any  one  substance  to  develop  physical  energy.  The 
elements  whose  molecules  are  thus  variously  built  up  are 
called  monatomic,  diatomic,  triatomic,  etc.  Atoms  do  and 
molecules  do  not  combine  with  each  other  chemically,  while 
molecules  do  and  atoms  do  not  unite  with  each  other 
mechanically. 

In  addition  to  the  list  of  elements,  there  is  a partially 
known  substance  called  the  ethereal  medium,  which  fills  all 
space.  Some  think  it  to  be  an  ultra-gaseous  condition  of 
matter  which  is  sub-atomic, ' and  devoid  of  both  chemical 
and  physical  energy,  and  of  absolutely  perfect  fluidity. 

SYMBOLS  AND  ATOMIC  WEIGHTS. 

The  atomic  weights  of  the  elements  are  the  weights  or 
quantities  of  each  required  in  order  to  combine  with  one 
weight  unit  of  hydrogen  in  making  up  into  molecules.  The 
atomic  weights  are  thus  the  combining  weights  of  the 
elements,  and  have  no  reference  to  actual  weight  per  inch  or 
other  unit  of  volume. 

The  symbols  shown  in  the  list  of  elements  are  convenient 
abbreviations  used  by  all  chemists,  and  are  generally  derived 
from  the  Latin  names. 

The  symbols  and  atomic  weights  are  used  entirely  in 
writing  or  figuring* formulae.  Thus  the  formula  Fe7  S8  ex- 
presses nearly  all  that  is  essential  to  know  about  a lump  of 
magnetic  pyrites.  It  shows  it  to  be  a mass  of  molecules, 
each  of  which  contains  seven  atoms  of  iron  and  eight  atoms 
of  sulphur.  Now,  by  multiplying  each  of  these  numbers  of 
atoms  by  the  respective  atomic  weights,  we  find  that  the 
mineral  contains  392  parts  by  weight  of  iron  and  256  of 
sulphur,  which  is  substantially  sixty  per  cent,  of  iron  and 
forty  of  sulphur. 


16 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


MINERAL  COMPOUNDS. 

There  are  three  classes  of  minerals  or  mineral  compounds, 
and  although  the  varieties  in  minerals  are  almost  uncount- 
able, they  are  all  reducible  to  one  of  three  classes.  These 
are  as  follows : 

Natives  are  masses  of  simple  molecules  of  a single  substance 
or  conglomerations  of  simple  molecules  of  different  substances 
mechanically  intermixed  but  not  chemically  combined.  Such 
are  the  native  metals,  the  alloys  and  the  amalgams. 

Binaries  are  compound  molecules,  each  composed  of  the 
atoms  of  two  elemental  substances  chemically  united.  Such 
are  the  sulphides,  chlorides,  oxides,  etc. 

Ternaries  are  compound  molecules,  each  composed  of  the 
atoms  of  two  elements  chemically  united  indirectly  by  or 
through  atoms  of  a third  element.  Such  are  the  silicates, 
carbonates,  sulphates,  etc. 


PRINCIPAL  BINARY  COMPOUNDS: 


Water . 

This  is  Hydrogen  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Hydrogen, 

11  per  cent. 

Oxygen, 

89 

Lime . 

This  is  Calcium  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Calcium, 

. 72  per  cent. 

“ Oxygen, 

28 

Magnesia. 

This  is  Magnesium  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Magnesium, 

. 00  per  cent. 

“ Oxygen, 

40 

Soda . 

This  is  Sodium  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Sodium, 

. 74  per  cent. 

“ Oxygen, 

. 26  “ 

Potassa. 

This  is  Potassium  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Potassium, 

83  per  cent. 

“ Oxygen, 

17 

BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


17 


Alumina. 

This  is  Aluminum  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Aluminum, 

. 53  per  cent. 

“ Oxygen, 

47 

Silica — Quartz. 

This  is  Silicon  Oxide, 

Composed  of  Silicon, 

. 47  per  cent. 

“ Oxygen, 

53 

The  foregoing  seven  minerals  are  all  binary  compounds, 
and  they  constitute  about  98  per  cent,  of  all  the  crust  of  our 
globe. 

The  next  steps  in  building  up  the  globe  are  the 

PRINCIPAL  TERNARY  COMPOUNDS, 

which  are  as  follows,  and  are  mostly  silicates,  and  come  in 
groups : 

Mica. 

This  is  a large  group,  the  principal  members  of  which  are 
named  Biotit e,  Phlogopite  and  Muscovite.  The  latter  is  the 
most  common  and  abundant,  and  is  selected  for  description. 


Gravity 2.7  to  3.1 

Hardness 2.0  to  2.5 

Alumina .34  p.  ct. 

Silica 47  p.  ct. 


Potassa 9 p.  ct. 

Water 4 p.  ct. 

Sundries 6 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly ; clearness,  translucent  to  transparent ; 
color,  white,  green,  yellow,  black ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity, 
flexible  to  elastic,  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  uneven; 
texture,  foliated. 

The  coloring  matter  of  the  micas  is  usually  iron,  and 
often  a part  of  the  potassa  is  replaced  by  soda.  Mica  is  one 
of  the  principal  ingredients  of  the  true  granite,  in  which 
rock  it  is  easily  distinguished  in  little  bundles  of  plates  or 
scales.  Sometimes  it  is  in  large  pockets  in  granite  or  gneiss 
rocks,  and  then  can  be  split  up  into  transparent  plates, 
which  are  used  for  stove  plates  or  windows.  Some  people 
call  it  isinglass. 


18 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  HOCKS. 


Feldspar. 

There  are  many  feldspars,  the  principal  ones  being 
Anorthite,  Labradorite,  Albite , Oligoclase , Orthoclase , Andesite. 
The  orthoclase  is  most  abundant,  and  is  therefore  selected 
for  description. 


Gravity 2.7  to  2.9 

Hardness 5.8  to  6.1 

Silica 65  p.  ct. 


Alumina 17  p.  ct. 

Potassa 17  p.  ct. 

Dirt,  etc .....  1 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly  to  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent ; color, 
white,  red,  green,  pink-;  feel,  smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity; 
brittle;  cleavage,  perfect  in  three  directions;  fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  tabular. 

Feldspars  occur  in  thick  plates  and  tabular  masses,  which 
break  up  into  small,  nearly  cubical  blocks.  The  light  flesh 
color  is  most  abundant,  but  the  colors  are  always  blotched. 
Feldspar  often  forms  great  rock  masses,  mostly  parts  of 
d}rkes  porphyritic  in  texture,  or  in  sheets  of  overflow.  It 
is  also  one  of  the  three  constituents  of  granite.  When  a 
bed  of  feldspar  decomposes,  the  potash  or  other  alkali 
washes  out  and  the  silica  and  alumina  remain  behind  as 
kaolin  or  porcelain  clay.  Some  of  the  feldspars  have  lime  or 
soda  or  magnesia  instead  of  potassa. 


Hornblende. 

This  group  is  sometimes  called  the  Amphibole  group,  the 
principal  members  being  Tremolite,  Actinolite , Smaragdite , 
Asbestos,  Hornblende.  The  latter  being  much  the  most  abun- 
dant is  here  described : 


Gravity 3.0  to  3.3 

Hardness 5.0  to  6.0 

Silica 45  p.  ct. 

Alumina 13  p.  ct. 


Magnesia 13  p.  ct. 

Lime 12  p.  ct. 

Iron  12  p.  ct. 

Potassa  and  Soda 5 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly  to  vitreous;  clearness,  from  transparent 
all  the  way  to  opaque ; color,  green,  brown,  black ; feel, 
smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imperfect  to 
perfect ; fracture,  conchoidal  to  uneven ; texture,  granular, 
but  sometimes  slaty  or  fibrous  or  columnar 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


19 


Magnetism  is  sometimes  present,  due  to  the  iron.  True 
hornblende  is  often  found  in  bundles  of  hexagonal  crystals. 
It  is  a constituent  in  syenite,  which  is  the  hornblendic 
granite.  It  also  forms  some  large  rock  masses,  portions  of 
dykes  or  overflows. 

Augite. 

This  is  the  most  abundant  of  the  Pyroxene  group,  the 
others  being  Diallage,  Sahlite , Malacolite , Leucagite.  The 
description  of  augite  is  this  : 


Gravity . . 
Hardness 
Silica. . . . 
Lime.... 


3.2  to  3.5 
6.0  to  6.5 
50  p.  ct. 
22  p.  ct. 


Magnesia 
Alumina. . 

Iron 

Soda,  etc . 


.13  p.  ct. 
7 p.  ct. 
7 p.  ct. 
1 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  resinous  to  vitreous  ; clearness,  sub-translucent  to 
opaque ; color,  green,  brown,  black ; feel,  smooth  to  harsh ; 
elasticity,  Trittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  conchoidal 
to  uneven ; texture,  granular  and  sometimes  crystalline  in 
hexagonal  prisms,  shorter  than  hornblende.  Augite  decom- 
poses into  bodies  of  greenish  earth,  which  fill  cavities  in  the 
rocks  of  which  it  is  a constituent. 

Epidote. 

This  is  the  principal  member  of  its  own  group,  and  other 
members  are  Allanite , llr ait e,  Zoisite . The  description  of 
Epidote  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 3.1  to  3.4 

Hardness 6.0  to  6.4 

Silica 88  p.  ct. 

Lime 25  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color, 
yellow,  green,  brown,  black;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle; 
cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular, 
and  very  rarely  is  it  crystalline,  fibrous  or  foliated. 

Epidote  is  abundant  in  the  prime  and  in  the  primary 
rocks,  and  is  generally  associated  with  hornblende.  The 
fine  granular  epidote  sometimes  forms  rock  masses  of 
considerable  size. 


Alumina 22  p.  ct. 

Iron 12  p.  ct. 

Water,  etc 3 p.  ct. 


20 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


Talc. 

This  group  contains  French  Chalk , Meerschaum , Steatite  or 
Soapstone  and  Talc , which  is  here  described : 

Gravity  2.4  to  2.7  Magnesia 32  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.0  to  1.2  Water 4 p.  ct. 

Silica 64  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  pearly ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color, 
white,  gray,  green,  brown ; feel,  greasy ; elasticity,  flexible 
to  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  conchoidal  to  even ; 
texture,  massive,  granular  or  foliated,  sometimes  looks  like 
starry  radiations  as  seen  in  magnesian  marble. 

Talc  is  the  most  abundant  of  all  the  great  magnesian 
silicates.  The  principal  gold  regions  of  the  world  are 
among  the  talcose  slates  of  the  Primary  Formation. 

Serpentine. 

Other  members  of  this  group  are  Bastite , Cerolite , Gymnite , 
Marmolite.  The  points  on  Serpentine  are : 

Magnesia 43  p.  ct. 

Water 13  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly;  clearness,  translucent  to  opaque;  color, 
green;  feel,  smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity,  flexible  to  brittle; 
cleavage,  imperfect ; iracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular. 

.Serpentine  is  very  abundant  among  the  primary  rocks, 
and  amounts  to  an  eruptive  rock  all  b3r  itself,  showing  in 
dykes  and  round-backed  ridges  and  hills.  It  is  much  in 
favor  as  a fancy  building  stone,  and  properly  handled  it 
produces  very  fine  architectural  effect.  When  very  bright 
green  and  capable  of  taking  high  polish  it  is  much  used  for 
mantels  and  other  interior  work  and  is  called  “Precious” 
Serpentine.  When  it  is  streaked  with  magnesian  marble  it 
is  called  “Verde  Antique,”  and  will  be  referred  to  further 
along  in  cliis  book. 


Gravity..,. 

Hardness. 

Si  1 i r.Q 


.2.5  to  2.8 
.3.0  to  3.7 

Jin  M 


BOTTOM  FACTS  ANI)  BED  BOOKS. 


21 


CHRYSOLITE. 

Other  members  of  this  group  are  Monlicellite,  Wohlerite, 
Fayallite , but  Chrysolite  itself  is  much  the  most  abundant,  and 
is  here  described : 

Gravity 3.3  to  3.5  Magnesia ...50  p ct 

Hardness 6.0  to  6.8  Iron  Oxide 8 p.  ct.* 

Silica 42  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  yellow, 
green,  brown;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle  to  very  tough; 
cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  granular. 

Chrysolite  is  usually  found  in  dykes  and  pockets,  but  they 
are  large  and  form  great  bodies.  It  is  the  home  of  corundum 
and  emery.  Some  little  magnetism  has  been  observed,  owing 
to  the  presence  of  the  iron.  Chrysolite  is  found  in  the 
mountains  of  North  Carolina  in  very  large  bodies. 


CHLORITE. 

The  principal  members  of  the  Chlorite  group  are  Penninite , 
Prochlorite , Margarite , Pipidolite.  The  last  is  the  important 
one,  and  is  here  described : 


Gravity . . 
Hardness 
Silica. . . . 


2.6  to  2.7 
.2.2  to  2.3 
32  p.  ct. 


Magnesia. 
Alumina  . 
Water,  etc 


.36  p.  ct. 
18  p.  ct. 
14  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  resinous  to  pearly ; clearness,  translucent ; color, 
green  to  slightly  reddish;  feel,  smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity, 
flexible  to  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  even  to  slight- 
ly uneven  ; texture,  massive  to  granular  and  scaly. 

Chlorite  is  very  abundant  among  the  primary  rock  for- 
mations, and  the  chlorite  slates  are  nearly  as  famous  as  gold- 
bearing  rocks  as  are  the  talcose  slates.  The  chlorite  slates 
are  generally  greener  and  brighter  than  the  talcose  slates, 
don’t  feel  so  greasy  either,  and  are  generally  found  overlying 
the  talcs,  although  sometimes  they  lie  in  alternating  strata. 

These  nine  ternary  compound  minerals  will  be  further 
referred  to  in  the  chapters  treating  of  their  economical  values, 
when  they  have  any,  but  at  present  they  are  described  as 
constituent  minerals  composing  the  igneous  rocks. 


22 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


IGNEOUS  ROCKS. 

These  rocks,  called  also  the  eruptive  rocks,  are  supposed  to 
come  from  the  earth’s  interior  or  core  rock,  and  they  are  the 
first  aggregations  of  the  great  constituent  binary  and  ternary 
compound  minerals.  These  minerals  are  aggregated  in  these 
rocks  in  varying  proportions,  so  that  no  full  descriptive  list 
can  be  made  of  them,  but  their  names  and  general  composi- 
tions and  characters  are  about  as  follows : 

LAVA. 

These  igneous  or  erupted  rocks  of  all  kinds  are  called 
Lam  when  they  are  of  light  weight  and  porous  or  frothy 
or  ashy  in  structure,  and  some  kinds  are  called  Pumice. 
These  rocks  are  found  mostly  around  volcanoes,  ancient  or 
modern.  Glassy  lava  is  called  Obsidian. 

TRAP. 

Trap  rocks  are  any  kind  of  igneous  or  erupted  rock  which 
is  laid  down  in  sheet  upon  sheet,  the  edges  looking  like  steps 
of  a staircase,  while  lava  is  generally  the  result  of  violent 
eruption.  Trap  is  produced  by  a slow  and  dignified  out- 
pouring of  melted  rock.  Trap  recks  containing  pebbles  or 
other  spherical  cavities,  where  pebbles  might  have  been,  are 
called  Amygdaloidal. 

BASALT. 

This  consists  of  the  minerals  feldspar,  augite  and  chry- 
solite, in  various  proportions,  and  there  is  often  some  iron. 
It  is  a dark  gray  or  greenish  gray  rock,  very  crystalline  and 
finely  granular  in  texture,  and  nearly  always  it  is  in  columns 
of  six  sides,  standing  up  vertically  or  inclined,  and  often 
lying  horizontally.  There  are  dykes  of  it  in  Alabama  and 
elsewhere  which  stand  up  four  or  five  feet  above  the  ground, 
and  look  like  piles  of  cord-wood.  Fingal’s  Cave  and  the 
Giant’s  Causeway  in  Europe,  and  the  Palisades  of  the  Hudson 
River,  or  Thunder  Cape  on  Lake  Superior,  are  noted 
localities. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


23 


DOLERITE. 

This  consists  of  feldspar  and  augite  with  some  iron,  and 
is  the  same  as  basalt  with  the  chrysolite  omitted.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  so  greenish  as  basalt,  and  the  augite,  not  having  so 
tenacious  a combination  with  other  minerals,  is  apt  to 
decompose  into  greenish  earth  which  washes  out  and  leaves 
the  dolerite  full  of  cells  and  pores — looks  pockmarked. 
It  has  the  same  tendency  to  crystallize  into  six-sided  columns 
as  basalt,  and  is  often  mistaken  for  it. 

DIORITE. 

Diorite  is  often  called  Greenstone,  but  this  name  is  more 
properly  applied  to  this  same  rock  after  it  has  been  washed 
down  and  deposited  as  one  of  the  primary  rocks  and  melted 
up  again  and  re-crystallized  into  a massive  rock.  It  is 
abominably  hard  and  tough  in  any  condition,  and  is  greenish 
gray  in  color,  or  rather  gray  mottled  with  green.  It  is  made 
up  of  hornblende  and  feldspar. 

TRACHYTE. 

This  is  a very  narsh-feeling,  porous  and  light-weight  rock 
composed  of  feldspar  with  some  hornblende  and  a very  little 
mica  in  small  particles.  Its  color  is  generally  pale-gray  or 
pale-blue,  but  it  is  sometimes  yellowish  or  reddish. 

PORPHYRY. 

True  porphyry  is  composed  entirely  of  feldspar,  the 
arrangement  being  a number  of  large  crystals  of  feldspar 
embedded  in  the  cement  of  the  same  material.  It  is  an 
agglomerate,  whereas  it  is  often  the  case  that  conglomerates 
are  called  porphyry  by  men  who  ought  to  learn  better.  The 
agglomerates  are  those  in  which  the  pebbles  and  the  cement 
are  the  same  materials,  while  in  conglomerates  they  are  of 
different  materials. 

These  igneous  rocks  are  principally  visible  to  the  naked 
eye,  disposed  in  sheets  intercalated  between  the  beds  of  the 
great  primary  formations,  and  sometimes  in  the  secondaries 
and  tertiaries;  and  they  sometimes  exist  as  the  very  top 


24 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


rocks  in  those  volcanic  regions  where  the  lava  beds  cover 
many  hundreds  of  square  miles ; and  sometimes  they  form 
mountains. 

When  our  little  Earth  was  sufficiently  cooled  down  to 
permit  the  great  hulk  of  the  fiery  gases  to  condense  into 
liquid  form,  and  this  liquid  was  nearly  ready  to  congeal 
into  solid  rock,  the  globe  took  its  final  form ; that  of  a ball 
slightly  flattened  at  the  poles  and  bulged  out  several  miles 
at  the  Equator,  being  exactly  the  shape  given  to  a ball  of 
red-hot  glass  by  revolving  it  rapidly  on  a spindle. 

As  our  red-hot  globe  continued  to  cool  down,  its  diameter 
contracted,  and  its  surface  congealed  into  crusts  which  were 
wrinkled  up  into  ridges  as  the  globe  shrunk  up.  These 
crusts  were  continually  being  cracked  and  broken  up  and 
overlapped  on  each  other,  and  covered  by  fresh  sheets  of 
melted  rock  poured  out  from  the  interior  through  the  cracks, 
and  these  again  cracked  and  covered  and  re-covered  until 
the  surface  was  sheet  upon  sheet  piled  flatwise,  endwise, 
sidewise,  edgewise,  and  every  otherwise,  like  the  structure 
of  an  ice  gorge  in  a big  river. 

As  the  original  gases  contained  the  atoms  of  all  these  sub- 
stances belonging  to  our  globe,  and  as  all  these  substances  do 
not  liquefy  at  the  same  temperature,  it  is  plain  that  when  the 
surface  of  the  globe  was  congealing  into  crusts  there  must 
have  been  fiery  clouds  of  unliquefied  gases  hanging  up  over- 
head. These  gases  have  all  been  gradually  absorbed  into  the 
globe  except  the  atmospheric  air,  which  doubtless  will  remain 
unabsorbed  until  we  have  no  more  use  for  it. 

When  the  lowering  temperature  reached  the  proper  point, 
the  oxygen  and  hydrogen  in  the  fiery  clouds  combined  with 
each  other  and  formed  superheated  steam,  which  in  time 
cooled  and  condensed  into  water,  and  descended  during  long 
ages  as  scalding-hot  rain,  which  blistered  and  scalped  off 
the  surfaces  of  the  hot  rocks,  and  was  driven  up  again  as 
steam.  As  th‘e  rocks  further  cooled  down,  the  water  could 
begin  to  collect  in  the  depressions  and  form  boiling  lakes, 
from  which  the  steam  constantly  arose,  only  to  fall  again 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


25 


elsewhere  as  hot  rain,  and  scalp  off  more  rock  materials,  and 
wash  them  down  into  the  depressions. 

It  is  possible  that  nearly  all  the  materials  out  of  which  the 
sedimentary  rocks  are  now  formed  were  originally  scalped 
off  the  core  rock  of  the  globe  during  these  early  days  of 
steam,  hot  water  and  violent  upheavals,  and  that  the  work 
done  since  those  days  has  been  principally  the  re- washing 
re-arranging  and  re-depositing  over  and  over  again  of  the 
same  old  debris.  The  violent  upheaval  of  the  bottom  of  a 
sea  or  lake,  accompanied  by  a neighboring  depression  of 
corresponding  size,  the  rush  of  the  water  from  the  old  sea 
to  the  new,  and  the  simultaneous  outpouring  of  a half  an 
ocean  of  red-hot  lava  into  the  water,  must  have  been  rather 
immense. 

The  globe  has  continued  to  lose  its  heat  until  the  present 
time,  and  it  has  also  continued  to  shrink  in  size.  The  crust 
has  also  continued  to  thicken,  and  it  must  have  thickened 
downwards  by  the  addition  to  its  underside  of  materials 
solidified  by  cooling  out  of  the  molten  interior.  This  thicken- 
ing enables  the  crust  to  withstand  greater  and  greater 
accumulations  of  strain  from  globe  shrinkage,  and  this  in 
turn  lengthens  the  intervals  between  the  upheavals  and 
earthquakes  caused  by  the  crushing  of  the  abutting  edges  of 
the  earth  crusts. 

This  crushing  and  giving  way  always  takes  place  along 
the  line  of  least  resistance,  and  one  shock  or  series  of  shocks 
so  weakens  such  materials  as  it  does  not  crush  that  the  next 
shock  breaks  up  the  already  weakened  materials.  We  find, 
therefore,  that  Earthquakes  are  confined  to  certain  countries, 
while  other  legions  are  free  from  them.  This  has  been  the 
case  as  far  back  as  our  histories  reach,  and  it  is  probable 
that  modern  quaking  and  volcanic  regions  are  the  same  as 
those  in  which  this  kind  of  action  took  place  most  frequent- 
ly and  violently  In  the  earlier  days ; but  it  is  probable  that  in 
the  still  earlier  days  these  upheavals  and  crusliings  were 
scattered  and  without  systematic  arrangement  on  lines  of 
least  resistance. 


26 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


As  the  intervals  of  time  between  the  great  earthquakes 
and  upheavals  became  longer,  the  disturbances  became 
greater,  owing  to  the  increased  amount  of  accumulated  re- 
sistance to  be  overcome  all  at  once.  This  is  verified  by 
reference  to  all  the  great  mountain  ranges  of  the  modern 
world.  The  Himalayas,  Alps,  Rockies  and  Andes  have  been 
the  result  of  comparatively  modern  upheavals,  as  they  all 
have  recently-formed  rocks  and  clays  high  up  near  their 
summits,  which  sedimentary  beds  must  have  been  formed 
by  deposition  of  sand,  silt  and  shells  under  water  before 
the  upheavals  took  place.  The  shells  are  all  the  shells  of 
salt-water  species  of  Jurassic  or  later  ages. 

It  was  a wise  old  darkey  deacon  who  cherished  a mental 
reservation  on  the  subject  of  Omnipotence  being  equal  to 
the  task  of  making  two  hills  without  a hollow  between  them. 
When  a rubber  football  is  sealed  up  in  summer  with  warm 
air  in  it,  it  is  round  and  plump,  but  when  winter  comes  the 
contained  air  cools  and  contracts,  the  surface  of  the  ball 
collapses  and  fails  in,  shaping  itself  into  one  or  more  dimples 
with  raised  edges.  Just  so,  as  the  molten  interior  of  the 
globe  cools  and  contracts,  the  crust  falls  in,  in  spots,  and  the 
edges  are  raised  up.  The  spots  are  the  oceans  and  the 
raised  edges  are  the  mountain  ridges,  and  the  portions  neither 
raised  nor  sunken  are  the  great  continental  plains  and  table- 
lands. 

Easter  Island,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  is  a towering  peak  of 
black  granite  standing  out  of  water  many  hundreds  of  miles 
away  from  any  other  land.  Every  square  foot  of  the  peak 
above  water  is  carved  into  most  grotesque  forms,  and  there 
are  many  idols  thirty  feet  high,  facades  of  temples,  alcars, 
etc.,  and  the  carvings  extend  down  under  the  surface  of  the 
sea  as  deep  as  can  be  seen  with  the  aid  of  the  water  glass 
through  the  clear  water.  This  peak  is  thought  to  have 
been  the  central  religious  shrine  of  the  people  inhabiting 
a great  continent  which  was  engulphed  in  pre-historic 
times.  There  are  indications  that  there  was  a similar  col- 
lapse of  a continent  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  also. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


27 


If  great  continents  collapse  and  go  down  under  the  sea, 
other  great  continents  must  have  come  up  out  of  the  sea 
about  the  same  time  to  preserve  the  equilibrium.  The  word 
“cataclysm”  has  been  used  to  describe  the  smash  that  takes 
place  at  such  times.  Just  consider  what  a cataclysm  that 
must  have  been  when  those  two  continents  were  engulphed, 
and  the  great  mountain  ranges  above  mentioned  were 
upheaved,  and  probably  large  portions  of  their  continents 
with  them.  What  became  of  the  old  empires  and  republics, 
party  platforms  and  propriety,  iron-clad  ships,  bridges  and 
creeds,  stock  markets,  women’s  rights  and  national  debts? 

There  is  consolation  for  us  in  the  thought  that  perhaps 
the  earth’s  crust  has  now  become  so  thick  that  the  shrinkage 
force  cannot  hereafter  crush  it  seriously,  and  will  expend 
itself  in  splitting  up  the  interior  of  the  earth  into  radial- 
shrinkage  cracks  like  those  seen  in  broken  cannon  balls. 
Our  modern  earthquakes  and  volcanoes  are  probably  due  to 
local  overstrains  in  portions  of  the  outer  crust,  the  over- 
strain being  probably  a residuum  left  over  from  the  last 
general  quake,  acting  on  weakened  strata. 


TRANSITION  ROCKS. 

But  while  the  foregoing  lavas,  traps,  diorites  and  porphy- 
ries are  the  true  igneous  or  eruptive  rocks,  there  is  another 
class  of  rocks  which  have  been  washed  off  from  the  surface 
of  the  igneous  rocks,  and  laid  down  in  beds  by  the  action  of 
water,  and  have  been  afterwards  subjected  to  such  great  heat 
that  all  the  water  has  been  burned  out  of  them ; these  are  the 
metamorphic  or  transition  rocks,  and  they  have  been  held  in 
the  heated  condition  so  long,  that  many  of  them  are  truly 
crystalline  while  some  of  them  have  been  actually  melted, 
and  thus  their  original  stratification  has  been  lost,  and  they 
have  cooled  down  into  massive  blocks  with  irregular  lines 
of  cleavage.  These  transition  rocks  constitute  the  great 
primary  formation,  which  is  the  only  one  of  the  geological 


28 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


formations  which  extends  in  greater  or  less  force  everywhere 
around  the  globe. 

We  must,  in  studying  formations,  constantly  bear  in  mind 
that,  as  a general  proposition,  all  those  portions  of  the  earth’s 
crust  that  were  above  water  at  any  given  period  were  being 
cut  down,  and  all  those  portions  that  were  below  water  at 
that  time  were  being  filled  up.  This  is  modified  by  the  fact 
that  submerged  coast  lines  were  being  cut  down  by  shore 
currents,  and  upland  valleys  were  occasionally  having  tem- 
porary deposits  made  in  them ; but  these  modifications  were 
confined  to  spots,  and  were  only  temporary  effects. 

This  accounts  for  the  fact  that,  although  the  different  rock 
formations  are  piled  on  top  of  each  other,  like  the  leaves  of 
a book,  yet  nowhere  do  we  find  the  book  complete.  A por- 
tion of  a leaf  is  torn  out  here,  and  a portion  of  another  leaf 
is  torn  out  there,  and  so  on,  all  down  through  the  whole 
thickness  of  the  book,  so  f^r  as  we  have  yet  discovered. 

There  is  always  enough  left  of  any  one  leaf  to  show  that 
such  a leaf  existed,  and  this  is  made  of  the  materials  which 
were  laid  down  underwater  during  that  particular  age  which 
it  represents.  The  materials  were  taken  from  the  uplands 
of  that  age,  and  were  torn  out  of  the  exposed  portions  of 
earlier  leaves. 

The  “ Geological  Column,”  shown  on  next  page,  gives  the 
succession  of  the  rocks,  as  they  have  been  determined  by 
Geologists  all  over  the  world.  Some  few  of  the  beds  and 
groups  are  not  yet  recognized  in  America.  The  names  are 
mostly  those  applied  by  the  New  York  Geological  Survey, 
and  it  is  customary  in  this  country  to  refer  the  beds  of  other 
localities  to  this  survey  when  they  are  sufficiently  identified, 
although  these  beds  may  be  named  locally  for  local  use. 

The  rocks  enumerated  on  the  column,  taken  in  their  great- 
est thickness  respectively,  aggregate  about  fifteen  miles  from 
the  top  to  the  lowest  known  depths. 

The  Roman  numerals  and  Latin  names  in  the  middle  col- 
umn of  the  Geological  Chart  represent  the  system  used  by 
the  Rogers  Brothers,  in  their  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania 
Reports,  and  these  are  often  referred  to  by  geologists. 


Eozoic.  I Paleozoic  or  Ancient  Life.  Mesozoic  Life. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


29 


§•5  |§'F 

05  O ; 

O ~ ' 


: lo* « 


0 

«►* 

c 

05 

to 

< 


| Uncompact. 

Alluvial. 

Diluvial. 

Pliocene. 

Miocene. 

Eocene. 

Upper  Chalk. 

Lower  Chalk. 

ir  0 
O 0 

Upper  Sand. 
Lower  Sand. 

Wealden. 

O 

Upper  Oolite. 

to 

Middle  Oolite. 

cS 

Lower  Oolite. 

£ 

Upper  Lias. 

Middle  Lias. 

Lower  Lias. 

A 

Keuper. 

*-*  ’to 

Musclechalk. 

c3 

Bunter  Sand. 

£ 

a 


On 

6 


o & 

f,  0 

as  ,05 

O'" 


Permian. 
Upper  Coals. 
Lower  Coals. 
Millstone  Grit 
Mount’nLime- 
Pocono.  [stone 


Catskill. 

Chemung. 

Portage. 

Gennessee. 

Hamilton. 

Marcellus. 

Upper  Helder. 

Schoharie. 

Cauda  Galli. 

Oriskany. 


>» 

c3 


s 


£ 


a u 


t£ 

5 


Lower  Helder. 

Saliferous. 

Niagara. 

Clinton. 

Medina. 

Oneida. 

Hudson. 

Utica. 

Trenton. 

Chazy. 

Calcilerous. 

Potsdam. 


O 


Huronian. 

Montalban. 

Labradorian, 

Laurentian. 


Azoic  or  lifeless  time,  Chaos. 


XIII.  Coal 
Measures. 
XII.  Serai. 
XI.  Umbral. 
X. Vespertine 
IX.  Ponent. 


Vlll.Vergent 
or  Cadent. 


VII.  Meridial 
VI.Pre-Merid. 


V.  Scalent  or 
Surgent. 


IV.  Levant. 


III.  Matinal. 


II.  Auroral. 


I.  Primal. 


Metamorphic 
or  Transition 
Rocks. 


Plutonic. 


Soil,  Sand,  Clay,  Peat. 

Drift  Clay,  Boulders,  Glacial. 

Sand,  Clay,  Marl,  Lignite. 

tt  t'  t( 

Marl,  Clay,  Flints,  Lignite, 
Green  Sand  Marl  “ 

tt  tt  fct 


Limestone,  Sand,  Clay. 
Fish  Egg  Limestone. 

Clay,  Shale,  Limestone. 
Shell  Marl. 

Limestone,  Bones,  &c. 


Shales,  Lime,  Sand,  Coal. 
New  Red  Sandstone,  “ 


Shales,  Marl,  Gypsum. 
Mahoning  Sandstone,  Coals. 
Shales,  Coals,  Limes,  Sands. 
Mountain  Conglomerate. 
Limestones,  Shales,  [stone. 
False  Coals,  Brk’n  Bed  Sand- 


Old  Red  Sandstone,  Brown- 
Coarse  Gritty  Shale,  [stone. 
Sandstones,  Shales. 

Shales,  Slates. 

Shales,  Flagstones. 
Bituminous  Shales. 

Flinty  Limestones. 
Limestones,  Sandstones. 
Cocks-tail  Sandstones. 
Coarse  Pebbly  Sandstones. 


Limestones. 

Onondaga  Salt  Group. 
Limestone  Shales.  [Iron  Ore. 
Sandstone,  Limestone-,  Red 
Hard  Mountain  Sandstone. 
Conglomerate. 

Shales. 

Shales. 

Birdseye  Limestone;  Gas. 
Limestone. 

Blue  Limestone. 

Mountain  Sandstone,  Iron. 


Slates,  Schists,  Marble. 
Gneiss,  Schists,  Granites. 


Igneous  Core  of  the  Globe. 


30 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


The  transition  or  primary  rocks  make  a rather  small  show 
at  the  bottom  of  the  Geological  Column,  but  the  four  groups 
aggregate  in  thickness  some  eight  or  nine  miles  from  the 
bottom  of  the  secondary  down  to  the  lowest  known  point, 
but  how  much  further  down  it  is  to  the  contact  with  the 
azoic  or  core  rock  we  don’t  know. 

The  kinds  of  rock  included  in  the  primaries  are  as  follows, 
and  they  are  all  crystalline : 

PEGMATITE 

Is  a very  coarse-grained,  ill-regulated  rock,  made  up  of  feld- 
spar and  quartz  in  very  large  crystals,  and  a little  mica. 
The  color  is  most  frequently  yellowish,  and  the  crystals  are 
so  large  that  it  is  at  times  sub-translucent. 

GRANITE 

Is  built  up  of  well-regulated  crystals  of  feldspar,  quartz 
and  mica,  and  it  is  called  granite  because  it  is  so  perfectly 
granular.  The  quartz  is  generally  white,  the  feldspar  white 
or  pinkish,  and  the  mica  is  usually  lead-colored  but  often 
dark  brown  or  even  black,  and  gives  ruling  color  to  the 
mass,  except  in  the  red  or  Scotch  granite,  where  the  color  is 
due  to  red  feldspar. 

SYENITE. 

This  is  hornblende  granite,  the  hornblende  being  in  place 
of  mica  in  the  true  granite.  It  is  more  apt  to  be  darker  in 
color  and  considerably  finer  in  grain  than  the  micaceous 
granite.  It  is  found  in  great  sheets  and  masses  like  granite. 
This  stone  is  the  Egyptian  black  granite. 

PROTOGENE. 

This  is  talcose  granite,  the  talc  replacing  the  mica  in  this 
stone,  just  as  hornblende  replaces  it  in  syenite.  It  is,  of 
course,  granular,  and  occurs  in  great  sheets  and  masses. 
The  substitution  of  talc  for  mica  gives  it  a slightly  greenish 
tinge. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


31 


GNEISS. 

This  is  made  up  of  any  of  the  minerals  contained  in  the 
foregoing  granular  rocks,  but  when  gneiss  contains  mica  it 
does  not  often  contain  either  talc  or  hornblende.  When 
containing  hornblende  it  generally  omits  mica  and  talc. 
When  talc  is  present,  mica  and  hornblende  are  mostly 
absent.  This  shows  that  gneiss  is  either  washed  down 
granite,  syenite  or  protogene,  or  else  the  granites  are  melted 
gneiss.  The  gneiss  is  evidently  a sedimentary  rock,  as  it  is 
coarsely  and  irregularly  stratified,  and  there  are  reasons  for 
holding  that  it  is  part  of  the  original  sedimentary  rocks 
scalped  off  in  the  earliest  days. 

Gneiss  fades  upwards  into  the  finer  grained  and  more  per- 
fectly stratified  schists  • downward  into  the  highly  crystal- 
line, granular  granite  rocks,  and  horizontally  it  fades  into 
granite  also.  There  are  cases  where  granite  rocks  rest  on 
top  of  gneiss,  separated  therefrom  by  a sharp  line  of  contact, 
which  shows  that  the  granite  overflowed  the  gneiss  in  a 
sheet  or  stream  from  some  neighboring  fissure.  Other  cases 
show  the  gneiss  on  top  of  the  granites  with  equally  sharp 
line  of  contact,  which  shows  that  there  had  been  a second 
sedimentary  deposit  on  top  of  the  granite  formed  by  the 
melting  of  a former  bed  of  gneiss.  Still  other  cases  show 
the  gneiss  fading  downwards  and  laterally  also  gradually 
into  granite,  which  show  that  the  second  heating  up  was 
not  sufficiently  intense  to  melt  up  the  whole  mass  of  gneiss. 

This  re-heating  and  melting  of  rock,  already  deposited, 
was  most  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  tendency  of  the 
cooling  process  going  on  in  the  crust  of  the. earth  was  to 
preserve  uniform  thickness  of  the  crust  as  nearly  as  possible. 
Thus,  if  half  a mile  thickness  of  crust  were  scalped  off  an 
upland,  and  the  materials  washed  down  into  an  adjoining 
lowland,  the  earth’s  crust  measured  through  at  the  lowland 
would  be  one  mile  thicker  than  at  the  upland.  As  this 
cutting  and  filling  proceeded,  the  heat  of  the  interior  would 
be  equalizing  matters  by  melting  again  the  rocks  of  the 
lowland  and  cooling  those  of  the  upland.  The  gneiss  rocks 


32 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


thus  re-melted  would  lose  their  lines  of  stratification  and 
crystallize  into  masses  of  granite  rocks  when  they  cooled, 
or  they  might  be  erupted  through  fissures  in  the  overlying 
gneiss,  and  cool  into  sheets  or  dykes. 

SCHIST. 

This  is  substantially  the  gneiss  after  it  has  been  washed 
down  and  deposited  in  new  localities  and  beds.  It  has  had 
much  more  trituration  than  gneiss,  and  has  undergone  addi- 
tional assorting,  and  is  more  carefully  stratified.  It  is  also 
somewhat  laminated,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  foliated 
materials,  such  as  mica,  etc.,  are  laid  down  flat,  whereas  in 
gneiss  they  jusc  as  often  stand  on  edge  as  flatwise. 

SLATES. 

These  are  the  finest  of  the  stratified  laminated  rocks,  the 
grains  being  rather  more  flat  than  round,  and  they  are 
always  laid  down  fiat,  thus  giving  a laminated  structure  to 
the  slate.  There  are  three  slates  among  the  primary  rocks, 
the  bottom  one  resting  on  the  schists  or  gneiss  being  the 
micaceous  slate,  the  second  the  talcose  slate,  and  the  third 
the  chlorite  slates.  The  whole  three,  together  with  the  clay 
shale  next  spoken  of,  are  the  great  gold-bearing  rocks  of  the 
world.  The  mica  slates  are  blue  or  gray,  specked  with 
minute  particles  of  mica,  the  talcose  and  chlorites  being 
greenish,  the  chlorite  being  the  cleanest  and  brightest  green. 
The  talcose  slate  is  the  most  auriferous,  and  feels  greasy. 

SHALE. 

Shale  is  made  up  of  the  finest  rounded  particles,  and 
contains  very  few  flattened  particles.  It  is,  therefore,  very 
slightly  laminated,  and  is  nearly  always  made  of  clay  with 
some  sandy  particles.  The  clay  shales  of  the  primaries 
generally  rest  on  top  of  the  slates 

QUAKTZITE. 

This  is  the  sandstone  of  the  primary  formation,  and  is 
composed  of  the  silica  washed  out  of  such  silicated  ternary 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


33 


minerals  as  have  decomposed.  It  is  the  same  as  the  sand- 
stone of  the  secondary  and  later  formations,  except  that  it 
is  composed  of  more  perfectly  crystalline  grains  and  has 
fewer  impurities  mixed  with  it.  A variety  called  Itacolumite , 
or  “elastic  sandstone,”  has  the  grains  and  the  connecting 
cement  arranged  in  ball-and-socket  fashion,  and  sometimes 
with  small  grains  of  mica  scattered  through  it.  This  gives 
it  a certain  flexibility ; but  as  it  does  not  spring  back  of  its 
own  accord,  it  ought  not  to  be  spoken  of  as  elastic.  It  is 
the  best  natural  stone  for  “inwalls”  of  furnaces,  as  its 
peculiar  structure  prevents  expansion  cr  contraction,  the 
open  joints  taking  or  giving  all  the  slack  either  way. 

MARBLE. 

This  stone  gives  us  our  first  glimpse  of  the  great  life- 
sustaining  element,  carbon,  which  element  we  will  further 
discuss  in  the  chapter  on  The  Coal  Measures.  Marble  is 
either  calcite  (carbonate  of  lime),  or  magnesite  (carbonate  of 
magnesia),  or  dolomite  (carbonate  of  lime  and  magnesia),  and 
its  method  of  deposition  is  described  further  along  under  the 
head  of  limestone;  but  these  limestones  of  the  primaries 
are  always  highly  crystallized  into  the  marbles,  as  the  result 
of  heat  under  pressure  and  non-access  of  air,  as  with  the 
other  crystalline  rocks  of  the  primary  times. 

As  these  primary  rocks  are  the  bottom  sedimentary  rocks, 
and  are  mostly  overlaid  by  the  secondary  and  tertiary  rocks ; 
we  don’t  know  as  much  about  them  as  we  do  about  some 
other  things.  It  is  a fact  that  nearly  all  the  mining  (other 
than  coal  and  iron  mining)  is  done  among  the  rocks  of  this 
formation,  and  the  experts  have  accumulated  volumes  of 
information  regarding  the  details  of  these  much-twisted 
rocks;  yet  as  these  rocks  constitute  more  than  half  the 
thickness  of  the  earth’s  explored  crust,  the  observations  yet 
made  don’t  reach  very  far  into  the  mysteries.  A serious 
difficulty  is  found  in  the  want  of  any  fossil  remains  of 
sufficient  definiteness  to  enable  us  to  distinguish  the  different 
rock  beds,  or  identify  periods  of  deposition.  Fungoid  and 


34 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


infusorial  life  commenced  during  the  later  primary  times, 
but  did  not  develop  variety. 

W e have  got  so  far  along,  however,  as  to  have  made  four 
great  divisions  of  primary  time,  and  we  call  them  the 
Laurentian,  the  Labradorian,  the  Montalban  and  the  Huron- 
ian.  The  Laurentian,  of  about  five  miles  in  thickness  (from 
the  Labradorian  down  to  the  lowest  explored  point),  forms 
the  Laurentian  Hills  of  Canada.  These  hills  are  supposed 
to  be  the  oldest  land  now  known  above  the  sea  level,  or 
exposed  to  the  air.  They  form  the  watershed  between  the 
streams  flowing  into  the  Hudson’s  Bay  and  those  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  Basin.  The  Labradorian  jg  found  on  the  eastern 
end  of  the  Laurention,  which  dips  under,  thus  leaving  the 
Labradorian  rocks  all  the  credit  of  making  up  the  for- 
bidding and  inhospitable  coast  cliffs  of  Labrador.  The 
Montalban  group  makes  up  the  White  Mountains  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  is  supposed  to  be  of  later  age  than  the 
Labradorian,  although  the  evidence  is  not  complete.  The 
Huronian  is  the  upper  group  of  the  primaries,  and  most  of 
the  crystalline  rocks  of  the  Atlantic  States  are  members  of 
this,  group.  The  gold-bearing  slates  and  the  earliest  iron 
ores  are  found  among  the  Huronians. 

Although  all  four  groups  of  these  primaries  cannot  extend 
around  the  globe,  yet  no  borings  have  yet  been  carried  down 
through  the  bottom  secondaries  without  cutting  into  some 
primary  rock.  They  form  the  bed-rock  of  the  American 
Continent.  They  are  the  country-rock  of  the  Pacific  Slope 
west  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  of  the  Atlantic  Slope  east 
of  the  Blue  Ridge.  They  are  covered  over  in  many  places 
on  the  Pacific  Slope  by  lava  and  other  eruptive  rocks  in 
sheets  and  even  mountains,  and  by  tertiary  beds  of  clays, 
sands,  etc.,  without  the  intercalation  of  secondary  rocks. 
On  the  Atlantic  Slope  they  are  obscured  in  several  places  by 
patches  of  later  secondaries,  and  are  covered  up,  along 
the  immediate  sea  coasts  from  New  York  southward,  by 
great  plains  of  tertiary  beds.  The  first  rocky  rapids  in  all 
the  Atlantic  rivers  are  formed  by  the  primary  rocks,  which 
at  these  points  dip  under  the  tertiary  plains. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


35 


The  country  from  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  Sierra  Nevada  is 
broken  up  in  many  places  by  upheavals  of  primary  rocks. 
Passing  over  the  Cincinnati  rise,  as  it  is  called,  where  the 
lower  Silurian  rocks  are  brought  up  and  the  primaries 
nearly  break  through,  we  will  instance  the  Ozark  upheaval, 
which,  extending  through  Missouri  and  Arkansas  into  a 
corner  of  Indian  Territory,  furnishes  the  lead,  zinc,  silver, 
iron  and  granite  of  those  regions.  The  Lake  Superior  iron 
mines  are  among  the  primaries,  the  copper  mines  being  in 
a great  trap  range  where  the  igneous  rock  is  forced  up 
through  the  lower  Silurian  sandstones.  The  Black  Hills  are 
an  upheaval  of  primary  rocks,  and  there  is  a corresponding 
area  in  Western  Texas.  The  great  Rocky  Mountains  are  of 
primary  formation,  but  have  been  upheaved  since  the  tertiary 
times,  as  they  carry  areas  of  well-marked  tertiary  beds  on 
their  backs. 

The  rocks  of  the  formations,  i.  e.,  the  sedimentary  rocks, 
grow  more  and  more  homogeneous  in  composition  as  we 
leave  the  early,  tumultuous  days  and  approach  the  long 
periods  of  quietude  of  the  later  ages  of  the  earth.  In  the 
early  days  the  minerals  were  all  scattered  promiscuously 
throughout  the  various  rocks,  and  they  were  consequently 
of  very  complex  constitution.  By  the  slow  and  quiet  opera- 
tion of  ages  of  weathering  and  watering,  the  silica  has  been 
dissolved  out,  separated  and  re-deposited  in  piles  by  itself  as 
sandstone  or  quartzite ; the  aluminas  and  the  limes  and  all 
the  rest  of  the  important  minerals  have  gone  through 
Nature’s  crushing  and  grinding  mills,  and  have  been  sepa- 
rated and  assorted  according  to  size  and  weight  by  Nature’s 
sluice-ways  and  other  hydraulic  processes. 

Apart  from  the  mechanical  operations  of  water,  there  have 
been  vast  chemical  forces  at  work  to  break  up  the  prime 
minerals  so  that  they  could  be  assorted  by  hydraulic  power, 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  decomposition  is  as  much  a 
chemical  process  as  composition.  Consider  only  three  prime 
minerals,  feldspar,  hornblende  and  augite.  The  first  con- 
tains silica,  alumina  and  an  alkali,  potash,  soda,  lime,  etc. 


36 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


Hornblende  gives  silica  iron,  alumina  or  other  base,  and 
augite  gives  silica  alumina,  lime,  magnesia  and  iron.  When 
the  silica  has  been  dissolved  out  of  these  and  re-deposited  as 
sandstone  or  quartzite,  the  other  minerals  are  also  released 
and  at  liberty  to  form  new  partnerships  and*  build  new 
rocks.  A very  respectable  earth  crust  could  be  built  up  out 
of  these  three  ternaries  and  the  one  binary,  water. 


AQUEOUS  IiOCKS. 

W e know  very  much  more  about  these  rocks  than  we  do 
about  the  primaries,  for  we  can  get  at  the  edges  of  these  all 
around  whole  areas.  They  occur  in  spots  (to  be  sure  the 
spots  are  as  big  as  islands  and  almost  as  continents  some- 
times), while  the  primaries  extend  all  around  the  globe. 
They  are  several  miles  in  thickness,  but  that  don’t  count,  as 
we  can  get  at  the  bottom  of  them  and  at  the  top  too,  and  at 
pretty  much  any  intermediate  point,  but  we  know  nothing 
about  the  bottom  of  the  primaries,  and  very  little,  compara- 
tively, about  intermediate  points.  The  top  surface  of  the 
primaries  is  a surface  composed  of  wrinkled  and  upturned 
edges  of  strata  upon  which  the  calm  and  placid  beds  of  the 
secondaries  are  laid  down  flat,  thus  showing  sharp  division 
lines. 

During  the  long  and  quiet  intervals  between  the  cata- 
clysms, some  very  important  operations  are  going  on,  and 
the  features,  in  minor  detail,  of  the  face  of  the  earth  are 
worked  into  present  shape  by  hydraulic  processes.  Look  at 
an  ordinary  hillside  covered  thickly  with  stones  and  small 
boulders.  The  inexperienced  says  to  himself  that,  being  so 
thick  on  the  surface,  the  stones  must  be  still  thicker  below, 
and  as  they  are  fragments  of  pure  feldspar,  worth  four 
dollars  per  ton,  he  digs  extensively  into  the  hill  and.  finds 
the  stones  very  few  and  far  between. 

Having  bought  his  experience,  he  goes  into  some  other 
business,  and  occupies  his  odd  moments  in  marveling  greatly 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


37 


about  the  stones,  until  some  geologist  tells  him  that  the 
stones  he  found  on  the  surface  were  once  very  thinly  distrib- 
uted throughout  a mass  of  clay  some  hundreds  of  feet 
thick  which  formerly  was  on  top  of  the  present  surface,  and 
that  the  rains  have  gradually  washed  out  the  clay  and  soil 
from  under  the  stones,  thus  lowering  the  surface  to  its 
present  level  and  causing  the  stones  to  accumulate  more  and 
more  thickly  on  the  lowering  surface,  while  the  lighter  and 
finer  clay  was  washed  down  into  the  valley. 

This  cutting  down  process  is  going  on  more  or  less  rapidly 
everywhere  above  the  water  level;  very  slowly  on  forest 
lands  and  on  well-kept  grass  lands  and  other  lands  well 
roofed  in  by  turf  or  moss,  but  very  rapidly  and  destructively 
where  the  land  is  cultivated  or  laid  aside  as  worn  out.  For 
example  sake,  we  will  cite  James  River,  which  in  Captain 
John  Smith’s  time  was  described  as  beautifully  clear  and 
limpid,  but  which  is  now  muddy  for  eleven  months  a year. 
The  tidewater  portions  of  the  valley  of  this  river  are  rapidly 
shoaling  into  meadows  overgrown  with  marsh  grass.  The 
soil  to  make  these  meadows  and  muddy  this  water  is  washed 
down  from  the  cleared  lands  and  old  broom-sedge  fields  up 
the  valley,  where  they  rarely  fertilize  wornout  lands  and 
sod  them  down  to  grass,  but  either  clear  new  land  or 
emigrate,  and  the  owners  of  the  rich  tidewater  meadows  use 
them  principally  for  snipe  pastures.  New  owners  will  learn 
to  dyke  and  ditch  them  some  day. 

Let  us  look  at  another  American  river,  the  Mississippi. 
The  engineers  who  have  been  taking  care  of  its  several 
mouths  have  measured  over  and  over  again  its  discharge  per 
year  of  water  and  also  of  solid  matter  carried  in  suspension 
and  dropped  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  where  the  river  current 
slackens  and  stops.  This  solid  matter  or  silt  amounts  to 
enough  each  year  to  fill  a hole  one  mile  square  and  two 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet  deep.  This  is  a layer  one  foot 
deep  spread  out  over  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  square 
miles,  or  a small  county  each  year,  and  it  would  cover  the 
whole  State  of  Pennsylvania  one  foot  deep  in  one  hundred 


38 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


and  seventy-five  years.  The  face  of  the  country  shows  that 
once  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  was  above  Cairo,  and  at 
the  head  of  a long,  narrow  bay  extending  down  to  the  Gulf. 
This  bay  was  about  one  thousand  miles  long,  and  about  one 
hundred  miles  wide  at  the  mouth,  and  it  has  all  been  filled 
up  and  rendered  fit  for  corn,  cotton  and  sugar  plantations 
by  the  same  processes  that  are  now  shoaling  the  estuary  of 
James  River.  The  Mississippi  silt  has  been  washed  off  from 
the  surface  of  twenty  States  and  Territories  covering  an 
expanse  of  a round  million  square  miles. 

The  tidal  currents  of  the  ocean  and  the  lashings  of  the 
surf  are  continually  cutting  out  sand  and  silt  along  the 
coast  lines  of  the  continents  and  islands,  and  re-depositing 
the  materials  elsewhere,  thus  forming  new  beds  in  new 
places  at  the  expense  of  old  beds  in  old  places. 

All  lake  and  sea  bottoms  are  continually  being  added  to 
by  the  dropping  of  the  shells  and  stems,  etc.,  of  infusoria. 
Under  the  microscope  a drop  of  water  is  seen  to  contain 
numerous  little  scraps  of  vitality  called  diatoms,  spicules, 
wheels,  spores,  etc.,  and  each  individual  scrap  has  a shell  or 
skeleton  or  stem  made  out  of  matters  such  as  lime  and  silica 
held  in  solution  in  the  water.  These  shells,  etc.,  are  all 
deposited  on  the  bottom  of  the  lake  or  sea  when  the  scraps 
die,  and  the  rivers  are  all  the  time  washing  down  more  lime, 
silica,  etc.,  to  provide  shells  for  more  scraps,  and  so  on.  The 
great  limestone  beds  are  all  the  result  of  this  series  of  pro- 
cesses, and  one  kind  of  limestone,  called  oolite,  is  composed 
of  round  shells  looking  like  fish  eggs,  ranging  in  size  from  a 
shad  egg  to  salmon  eggs. 

When  we  consider  that  only  one-fourth  of  the  earth’s 
surface  is  dry  land,  and  that  these  submarine  deposits  are 
going  on  all  the  time  over  the  other  three-fourths,  we  can  form 
some  idea  of  the  amount  of  work  that  is  constantly  going  on. 
The  process  of  hardening  these  beds  of  clay,  silt,  shells,  etc., 
into  solid  rocks  is  simply  one  of  long-continued  compression, 
with  occasionally*  some  action  similar  to  the  “setting”  of 
mortar  or  cement.  • 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


39 


The  absorption  of  water  into  the  texture  of  the  rocks  is 
going  on  all  the  time,  too.  A familiar  example  of  this  is  seen 
in  the  absorption  of  water  by  caustic  lime  when  being 
slaked,  and  yet  the  lime,  when  not  overslaked,  appears  to  be 
as  dry  as  before.  Brown  iron  ore,  called  limonite,  was 
formed  by  the  washing  down  and  solution  of  the  red  iron 
ore,  after  which  it  was  re-deposited  with  fourteen  per  cent, 
of  water  inclosed  in  it,  and  when  this  ore  is  roasted  the 
water  is  driven  off,  leaving  it  red  ore  again. 

W ater  thus  absorbed  is  called  water  of  hydration  or  of 
crystallization,  and  it  is  estimated  that  fully  one-sixth  of  all 
the  water  belonging  to  our  globe  has  already  been  locked  up 
in  the  rocks  by  these  processes.  How  much  has  been  locked 
up  by  the  process  of  watering  railroad  and  other  stocks  is  not 
yet  estimated. 

The  secondary  rocks  are  looked  at  with  different  degrees 
of  interest  by  different  people.  Owing  to  the  continuing 
hydraulic  assorting  processes  of  Nature,  the  composition  of 
the  different  rock  beds  grew  simpler  as  time  advanced,  while 
the  more  peaceful  condition  of  things  permitted  the  varieties 
of  life  to  multiply  enormously.  The  gold  and  silver  miner 
has  little  use  for  level  banks  and  beds  of  rocks  full  of  fossils, 
while  the  mining  speculator  has  still  less  use  for  fossils  in 
banks,  as  they  won’t  lend  money  on  his  stocks.  The  coal 
and  iron  miner  feels  at  home  among  the  level  homogeneous 
banks,  while  the  biologist  blesses  the  fossils,  and  works 
lovingly  among  them  in  search  of  the  missing  link.  We 
will,  therefore,  describe  these  rocks  and  refer  the  reader  to 
the  Geological  Column. 

SANDSTONE. 

This  is  derived  from  the  primary  quartzite  which  has  been 
washed  down  and  deposited  in  new  beds  during  secondary 
times,  and  became  hardened  by  time  and  pressure.  The 
sandstones  are  found  in  beds  all  the  way  up  at  intervals 
throughout  the  whole  secondary  series,  and  the  sands  con- 
stitute at  least  tliree-fourths  of  all  the  mass  of  materials  in 
this  formation.  The  principal  differences  to  be  seen  among 


40 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


the  beds  are  variations  in  size  of  grain.  There  are  four 
great  plates  ot  sandstone  between  the  top  of  the  primaries 
and  the  bottom  of  the  great  coal  measures.  The  Potsdam 
sandstone  lies  on  the  primaries  and  forms  the  crest  and 
western  slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  Medina  sandstone 
is  the  second,  and  forms  the  crest  and  western  slope  of 
North  Mountain.  The  Oriskany  is  the  third  great  sand- 
stone, and  forms  the  crest  and  western  slope  of  Capon 
Mountain  and  others  on  that  line  of  upheaval.  The  mill- 
stone grit  is  the  fourth  great  sandstone,  and  forms  the  base 
of  the  coal  measures.  The  Mahoning  sandstone  is  the  plate 
that  divides  the  coal  measures  into  upper  and  lower  coals. 

These  great  sandstone  plates  give  the  topography  to  the 
country  they  traverse,  as  they  are  the  hardest  rocks  and 
wash  down  the  least,  while  the  softer  limestones,  slates  and 
shales,  in  between  them,  wash  out  rapidly,  and  thus  form 
valleys,  leaving  the  sandstones  to  cap  the  ridges  and  protect 
them  against  too  rapid  denudation. 

This  region  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  is  a magnificent  illus- 
tration of  the  action  of  upheaval  as  shown  in  Nature’s  grand 
and  original  performance  of  upheaving  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
the  primary  region  east  of  it.  She  drove  it  up  like  a wedge 
from  below,  and  she  has  squeezed  up  into  great  mountain 
wrinkles  all  the  country  between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the 
Allegheny  Mountains.  It  is  estimated  that  if  the  seventy  to 
eighty  miles  of  mountain  and  valley  between  those  two 
ridges  were  flattened  down  into  level  plain,  they  would 
cover  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  The  wrinkling 
has  been  so  powerful  that  in  many  places  the  sedimentary 
beds  stand  on  edge,  and  indeed  at  times  they  lean  back- 
wards. 

LIMESTONE. 

This  is  simply  the  re  deposited  debris  of  the  marbles  of 
the  primary  formation,  supplemented  by  the  work  of  marine 
animals  and  vegetables  of  the  secondary  ages.  It  is  prob- 
able that  those  beds  in  which  the  most  fossils  are  found  are 
the  ones  formed  by  the  slow  building  of  the  infusoria  during 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


41 


secondary  times,  while  those  of  larger  grain  and  fewer 
fossils  may  have  been  made  of  materials  derived  from 
washing  down  the  primary  marbles.  This  latter  material  is 
most  apt  to  be  deposited  near  the  shore  line  of  the  ancient 
seas  and  to  have  sand  and  clays  mixed  with  it ; while  the 
limestone  of  the  secondary  age  would  be  formed  in  deep,  still 
water,  and  would  thus  be  of  finest  grain  unmixed  with  any- 
thing but  fossils. 

CHALK. 

This  is  given  a subdivision  all  to  itself,  as  it  characterizes 
and  gives  name  to  a -whole  group  of  secondary  beds,  viz.: 
the  Cretaceous,  which  is  the  upper  group  of  the  secondaries. 
The  earlier  limestones  had  time  and  pressure  enough  to 
pack  them  down  and  harden  them,  but  these  chalks,  which 
are  substantially  the  same  materials,  have  not  yet  had  the 
advantages  of  the  older  rocks.  The  sounding  apparatus  of 
recent  exploring  vessels  have  brought  up  from  the  deepest 
sea  bottoms  yet  found  quantities  of  semi-fluid  chalk,  show- 
ing that  the  infusoria  in  the  sea  water  of  to-day  conform  to 
the  habits  of  their  ancestors  in  the  matter  of  sepulture. 

COAL. 

This,  although  the  least  in  quantity  of  all  the  secondary 
rocks,  except  fire-clay,  is  very  much  the  greatest  in  impor- 
tance among  the  secondary  or  any  other  rocks,  but  as  it  will 
be  treated  more  fully  in  its  place  in  the  chapter  on  The  Coal 
Measures,  it  will  be  passed  over  here,  with  the  recommenda- 
tion that  the  reader  study  its  position  in  the  Geological 
Column. 

SLATE  AND  SHALE. 

The  slates  and  shales  of  the  secondaries  are  of  the  same 
construction  as  those  described  among  the  primaries,  but 
they  differ  in  condition,  those  of  the  primaries  having  been 
severely  cooked  by  the  early  heat  and  slightly  crystallized, 
while  those  of  the  secondaries  have  not  been  under  fire, 
and  are  only  compacted  by  long  pressure.  In  the  anthracite 
coal  regions,  however,  the  slates  and  shales  have  been 


42 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


slightly  heated,  at  the  same  time  the  hydrogen  was  being 
driven  out  of  the  coal. 

The  secondary  rocks  form  the  country  rock  of  the  Missis- 
sippi basin,  and  they  are  also  found  in  areas  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  of  the  Appalachian  Mountain  range.  The  eastern 
edge  of  the  Potsdam  sandstone  caps  the  Blue  Ridge  from 
near  Harrisburg  down  past  Harper’s  Ferry  and  on  through 
Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  thence  past  Cartersville,  in 
Georgia,  to  the  Coosa  River,  in  Alabama,  near  the  Selma 
and  Rome  Railroad  bridge.  In  West  North  Carolina  and 
Southern  Virginia  this  stone  has  been  terribly  tossed  up 
and  broken  through  by  the  upheavals  of  the  primaries,  but 
it  gets  control  again  and  passes  under  the  valley  of  East 
Tennessee. 

The  secondary  rocks  extend  westward  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  broken,  of  course,  where  the 
before-named  primary  upheavals  come  up  through,  but  the 
further  west  they  extend  the  thinner  they  get.  Rock  beds 
which  are  hundreds  of  feet  thick  in  the  Appalachian  Moun- 
tains are  represented  in  Missouri  by  feather-edged  beds  of 
but  few  feet  in  thickness,  while  at  the  foot  of  the  Rockies 
many  of  the  beds  are  missing  altogether. 

There  are  detached  areas  of  secondary  rocks  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  which,  although  small,  are  of  great  value,  for 
these  areas  furnish  all  the  brownstone  used  in  building  in 
New  York  and  other  cities  in  the  Eastern  States.  The  stone 
comes  from  the  Triassic  beds  of  the  secondaries,  which  are 
found  in  troughs  in  the  primary  rocks,  all  the  way  from 
Nova  Scotia  down  to  Georgia,  the  beds,  however,  not  being 
continuous.  The  northern  slope  of  Nova  Scotia  is  of  this 
Triassic  age.  Slialer’s  quarries,  in  Connecticut,  furnish 
nearly  all  of  this  stone  used  in  Boston,  Providence,  New 
York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford.  The  red  soils  of  New 
Jersey  are  underlaid  with  it.  Parts  of  the  Susquehanna, 
near  York,  and  all  the  Monocacy  valley  are  of  this  forma- 
tion. The  Grant-Seneca  quarries  are  in  this,  and  the 
Virginia  Midland  Railroad  runs  across  many  miles  of  it. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS 


43 


The  gray  sandstones  in  which  the  Richmond  coals  are 
found  are  of  this  age.  The  Deep  River  and  Dan  River  coals 
of  North  Carolina  are  in  these  rocks,  and  this  writer  thinks 
he  has  identified  them  in  South  Carolina  and  in  Georgia  at 
several  points. 

TERTIARIES. 

These  beds  are  rarely  hard  enough  to  be  called  rocks* 
They  cover  great  areas  of  country  in  the  basins  between  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  and  also  along 
the  Pacific  coast  where  they  have  eruptive  rocks  above  or 
below  them  and  all  through  them.  In  many  places  they 
have  been  so  burnt  by  heat  from  eruptive  rocks  that  they 
are  often  mistaken  for  older  rocks.  The  “ Bad  Lands  ” of 
the  Upper  Missouri  River  country  are  of  tertiary  formation, 
and  they  appear  to  have  been  used  as  cemeteries  by  the 
tertiary  animals  of  that  region,  for  they  are  packed  full  of 
skeletons,  and  have  furnished  more  links  in  the  chain  of 
evolution  than  all  the  rest  of  the  wTorld  yet  known. 

On  the  Atlantic  side  the  coast  lands  are  all  tertiary,  from 
the  Hudson  River  around  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  they 
extend  inwards  up  to  the  line  of  the  “ Sand  Hills,”  which 
line  marks  the  boundary  of  the  ancient  coast,  the  “ Hills  ” 
being  the  ancient  sand  dunes  blown  up  by  the  winds,  just  as 
they  are  in  Southern  France  and  many  other  coasts,  to-day. 
The  fact  that  this  line  of  sand  dunes  coincides  for  many 
hundred  miles  with  the  line  of  the  first  rocky  rapids  in  the 
rivers,  is  corroborative  evidence.  Wherever  there  are  sand 
dunes  they  are  always  on  the  line  of  the  rapids  in  the 
Southern  States.  Many  portions  of  this  great  tertiary  plain, 
between  the  sand  dunes  and  the  sea,  are  covered  by  swamps 
and  drift  clays  and  by  river  washings,  such  as  the  great 
Mississippi  bottom-land  country,  all  of  which  are  quater- 
nary. 

Clay . 

The  clay  of  the  tertiaries  differs  in  no  very  important 
respect  from  the  clays  of  other  formations,  and  will  be 
referred  to  again  among  industrial  minerals. 


44 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


Sand . 

The  sands  of  the  tertiaries  are  generally  finer  and  purer 
than  those  of  earlier  deposition,  as  they  have  undergone 
more  washing  and  assorting  and  are  therefore  better  fitted 
for  man’s  use  in  the  building  arts  and  for  making  glass. 
There  are  some  half-hardened  sandstones  among  these  beds 
which  are  composed  of  fine,  clean,  sharp-pointed  sand, 
which  crumbles  easily  under  the  fingers,  and  in  which  the 
beds  contain  grains  ot  uniform  size,  which  are  especially 
useful. 

Gravel . 

The  gravels  of  the  tertiaries  are  the  same  as  other  gravels, 
but  they  are  in  such  great  quantity  'that  they  are  a very 
prominent  feature,  and  are  used  for  ballasting  railroads, 
surfacing  turnpike  roads,  and  many  other  purposes.  A large, 
well-located  gravel  pit  is  a valuable  piece  of  property. 

Marl. 

This  is  the  lime  rock  of  the  tertiary  formation,  and  is  to 
this  formation  what  chalk  is  to  the  upper  secondary,  lime- 
stone to  the  lower  secondary,  and  marble  to  the  primaries. 
It  is  soft  yet,  but  if  we  pile  a few  miles  of  new  rocks  on  top 
of  it,  and  wait  say  a few  million  of  years,  it  will  guarantee 
any  required  degree  of  hardness.  It  is  the  work  of  those 
tireless  infusoria,  who  go  on  locking  up  carbon,  without 
asking  themselves  when  there  will  be  no  more  unappro- 
priated carbon  to  lock  up.  There  are  marls  which  contain 
phosphoric  acid  combined  with  lime,  and  these  are  great 
marls  for  fertilizing  purposes.  They  are  generally  granular 
in  texture  and  greenish  in  color,  and  are  therefore  called 
“ Green  Sand  Marls.’  The  phosphoric  acid  or  phosphate  of 
lime  is  supposed  to  come  from  the  great  deposits  of  bones 
and  fish  remains  found  in  and  about  these  marls.  There  are 
other  green  marls  which  contain  iron  sulphate,  and  as  these 
sour  the  land  the  amateur  fertilizing  farmer  had  better  look 
sharp.  The  writer  has  known,  however,  of  several  cases  in 
the  Patuxent  regions  of  Maryland,  in  which  this  sour  marl 
was  spread  and  killed  everything,  but  in  the  third  year 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


45 


magnificent  crops  were  produced,  and  there  have  been  four 
successive  crops  since,  all  good  ones  too,  from  which  it 
would  seem  that  exposure  to  the  weather  decomposed  the 
iron  sulphate  and  released  the  sulphuric  acid,  which  in 
turn  attacked  the  lime  and  formed  plaster. 

QUATERNARIES. 

These  beds  are  the  most  recently  formed,  and  they  are 
still  being  formed  over  the  three-fourths  of  the  earth’s  crust 
which  is  under  water.  The  sands  and  gravels  and  marls  of 
this  formation  and  the  ordinary  clays,  too,  are  substantially 
the  same  as  those  of  the  tertiaries,  and  need  no  special 
mention,  but  there  is  a clay  called 
Drift  Clay 

Or  boulder  clay.  It  is  an  irregular  and  unstratified  mass  of 
miscellaneous  materials,  mostly  yellow  clay,  with  boulders 
and  other  rounded  fragments  scattered  all  through  it.  It  is 
supposed  to  be  deposits  of  pulverized  rocks  and  formations 
which  were  ground  off  by  the  ice  during  the  last  Glacial 
period.  There  are  portions  of  this  continent  which  are 
covered  for  hundreds  of  square  miles  by  deposits  of  these 
clays.  Many  rivers  emptying  into  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Great  Lakes  cut  through  great  hills  of  drift.  The  Ontonagon 
River  running  into  Lake  Superior  is  a fine  example  of  this, 
as  it  runs  for  many  miles  between  banks,  often  a hundred 
feet  high,  composed  entirely  of  drift  clay  and  boulders. 

One  theory  advanced  to  account  for  the  presence  of  this 
clay  and  boulders  is  that  the  orbit  of  the  earth  around  the 
sun  being  elliptical  and  constantly  changing,  it  may  have 
become  so  elongated  as  to  get  out  of  center  with  the  sun, 
and  thus  produce  shortening  of  exposure  of  northern  hemi- 
sphere each  year  to  the  sun’s  heat.  This  would  cause  an 
accumulation  of  ice  over  the  northern  half  of  the  globe, 
which  ice  would  expand  and  grow  southwardly,  carrying 
with  it  the  stones  frozen  into  its  mass.  These  stones  would  do 
just  as  in  modern  icebergs  and  glaciers,  and  thus  cut  out 
grooves  and  striae  on  the  surfaces  of  the  rocks  they  passed 


46 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


over.  As  the  orbital  distortion  corrected  itself  the  heat  came 
back,  the  ice  melted  and  dropped  the  boulders,  the  floods  of 
water  from  the  melting  ice  scoured  out  all  the  clays,  etc., 
from  earlier  formations  and  re-deposited  them  in  great  un- 
stratified hills  of  unassorted  clay,  and  things  got  straight 
again. 

All  the  hills  and  mountains  south  of  Hudson’s  Bay,  down 
to  Pennsylvania  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  except 
Mt.  Washington,  show  the  grooves  on  tlicir  very  tops, 
showing  that  the  ice  went  clear  over  them.  Mt.  Washington 
only  shows  them  cut  deeply  on  her  sides,  nearly  up  to  the 
top. 

Another  suggested  cause  for  this  change  of  climate  is  that 
as  the  earth  staggers  on  its  axis  (like  a humming  top  asleep), 
making  a complete  stagger  and  recovery  once  in  about 
twenty-five  thousand  years,  it  would  thus  incline  its  North 
Pole  away  from  the  Sun  for  long  intervals.  This  theory  can 
be  called  rather  diaphanous,  as  the  exposure  and  non-ex- 
posure would  seem  to  be  about  equal  under  the  proposed 
arrangement. 

The  most  probable  theory  advanced  is  that  the  changes 
in  the  cooling  Sun  were  accompanied  by  the  evolution  of  a 
hazy  gaseous  envelope  which  shut  off  temporarily  some  of 
the  Sun’s  heat,  and  produced  the  glacial  effects,  and  that 
this  hazy  gas  was  afterwards  re-absorbed  or  combined  with 
something  else  so  as  to  become  clear  again. 

Soil 

Soil  is  the  top  covering  of  that  portion  of  the  earth  that 
is  above  water.  This  is  a general  statement,  but  there  are 
of  course  particular  spots  where  the  soil  of  uplands  has 
been  scraped  off,  which  we  will  not  allow  to  count  this  time. 
Soil  is  the  result  of  comminution  and  decomposition  of 
minerals  combined  with  decomposition  of  vegetable  and 
animal  matter.  Soils  are  also  further  enriched  and  com- 
minuted by  passing  through  the  bodies  of  earth-worms,  and 
this  to  a much  greater  extent  than  had  been  thought  possible 
previous  to  Darwin’s  book  calling  attention  to  it. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


47 


In  the  spring  of  1882  the  writer  observed  a path  across  a 
common  at  the  village  of  Avalon,  near  Baltimore.  The 
common  was  covered  with  grass  kept  short  by  the  village 
cows,  and  the  path  was  so  dotted  with  worm  casts  that  he 
cut  a pasteboard  one  foot  square  and  failed  to  put  it  down 
on  the  path  anywhere  without  touching  a worm  cast.  He 
searched  for  an  hour  over  the  rest  of  the  common  and  found 
the  grass  sod  was  dotted  the  same  way.  A rain  spread  the 
casts  over  the  ground,  and  in  twenty-four  hours  they  were 
renewed  just  as  plentifully.  Six  times  in  one  month  was 
this  repeated.  It  is  within  bounds  to  state  that  if  this  rate 
of  deposit  is  kept  up  for  three  months  in  each  year,  for  fifty 
years,  it  would  add  one  inch  of  soil  to  the  the  surface  of  that 
common. 


FOSSIL  EARMARKS. 

Now  that  we  have  got  up  to  the  top  of  the  earth’s  crust, 
we  will  study  the  remains  of  the  organized  life  that  has 
been  growing  more  complex  all  the  time  that  we  have  been 
assorting  the  rocks  into  more  simple  varieties.  The  general 
characters  of  the  fossil  remains  change  with  the  ages,  which 
correspond  to  whole  groups  of  rocks,  not  with  single  beds. 
In  other  words,  the  fossils  correspond  to  the  ages,  not  the 
characters,  of  rocks,  and  the  rocks  are  arbitrarily  grouped 
by  man  to  correspond  to  the  changes  of  the  fossils.  This  is 
because  the  life  was  substantially  the  same  at  any  one  time, 
whereas  the  rocks  being  laid  down  in  that  same  age,  and  in 
which  the  remains  of  the  life  were  being  deposited,  were 
here  of  limestone  and  there  of  coal,  and  again  of  sandstone, 
and  so  on. 

There  are  some  sixty  odd  thousand  species  of  fossil 
remains  now  known  and  described  by  the  palaeontologists, 
but  the  size  of  this  volume  will  not  let  us  speak  of  more 
than  the  general  groups  into  which  they  are  divided,  and 
which  give  names  to  the  ages.  Each  age  thus  named  is  the 


48 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


period  daring  which  that  type  of  life  attained  its  greatest 
development.  It  can,  in  general,  he  said  that  the  life  thus 
distinctive  of  any  age  had  its  beginning  in  the  age  preced- 
ing, and  that  it  declined  in  the  age  next  succeeding  that  of 
its  greatest  development.  Types  of  life  have  declined,  but 
have  never  perished,  although  many  species  have  disap- 
peared. The  ages  of  life  are  as  follows  : 

AGE  OF  FUNGI. 

This  was  the  Eozoic  Age,  or  Dawn  of  Life,  and  happened 
along  during  the  later  primaries.  The  occurrence  of  marbles 
among  the  primaries  shows  that  there  must  have  been  some 
sort  of  low  vegetable  growth  to  secrete  carbon  out  of  the  air 
and  transmit  it  to  the  water  where  it  was  taken  up  by  the 
infusoria  and  used  for  shells,  etc.  Possibly  some  form  of 
seaweed  floating  around  was  the  first  life,  and  almost 
microscopic  in  size.  The  rocks  of  the  primary  series  have 
been  so  transformed  by  heat  that  well-defined  fossils  are 
burnt  out,  although  Eozoon  is  being  found  increasingly. 

AGE  OF  MOLLUSKS. 

These  chaps  were  shell-fish,  creatures  that  have  their 
bones  on  the  outside  of  them,  where  they  do  duty  as  skele- 
tons, and  as  houses,  and  as  armor.  Our  modern  crabs, 
oysters  and  others  of  that  ilk  are  remaining  species  of  this 
type.  There  were  big  snails  and  sea  conchs  and  worms 
covered  with  jointed  armor  made  of  rings  of  shell.  These 
shell-fish  held  possession  of  affairs  on  this  world  all  through 
the  Silurian  age. 

AGE  OF  FISnES. 

This  was  the  age  of  the  fish  who  lived  on  the  infusoria, 
and  on  each  other,  and  on  shell-fish,  which  they  cracked  up 
just  as  our  sturgeon  do  to  this  day.  Many  of  them  had  the 
floors  and  roofs  of  their  mouths  paved  with  flat-headed  teeth 
set  as  closely  as  the  hob-nails  on  a miner’s  boot  sole,  all 
properly  arranged  for  crunching  oysters,  etc. 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


49 


AGE  OF  COAL  PLANTS. 

This  age  followed  the  fish,  and  appears  to  have  been  a 
time  of  peace  and  plenty,  when  vegetation  of  enormous 
vigor  grew  luxuriantly,  died  properly,  and  carried  down 
into  the  ground  with  it  great  quantities  of  carbon.  The 
carbon  stayed  there  and  mineralized  until  man  came  along 
and  found  it  would  burn.  He  called  it  coal,  dug  it  out, 
organized  companies,  swindled  widows,  melted  iron  and 
made  war  with  it.  Great  civilizer. 

AGE  OF  REPTILES 

Reptiles  include  lizards,  crocodiles,  alligators,  turtles, 
frogs,  toads,  terrapins,  sea  serpents  and  see  snakes.  These 
interesting  creatures  were  on  top  all  through  the  Triassic, 
Jurassic  and  Cretaceous  periods,  and  had  a long  lease  of 
power.  There  were  lizards,  called  Saurians,  fifty  feet  long 
and  bigger  round  than  a sugar  hogshead.  Their  legislatures 
invented  Reptile  Funds. 

AGE  OF  MAMMALS. 

These  are  the  creatures  that  suckle  their  young,— -bats  in 
the  air,  whales  in  the  sea,  elephants  and  others  on  land. 
They  appear  to  have  got  a start  in  the  top  of  the  second- 
aries, to  have  increased  beyond  all  reason  in  the  tertiaries, 
as  regards  quantity,  but  their  choicest  specimens  wrere 
produced  about  the  end  of  the  tertiary  and  beginning  of  the 
quaternary.  Some  most  preposterous  creatures  were  gotten 
up  but  their  preposterosity  consisted  chiefly  m their  great 
size.  It  would  take  about  two-and-a-half  of  Barnum’s 
Jumbo  to  make  one  boss  mammoth.  They  had  an  elk  in 
Ireland  which  would  cut  up  into  a whole  family  of  our  best 
bull  moose.  The  great  cave  bear  would  whip  a four-in-hand 
team  of  California  grizzlies.  The  British  Lion  of  those  days 
was  a tiger  who  had  incisor  teeth  eight  inches  long,  and  the 
American  Eagle  was  a lion  built  on  the  same  magnificent 
scale.  The  lions  and  tigers  of  the  present  day  are  mere 
kittens  in  comparison. 


50 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


But  the  boss  mammalian  was  still  to  come.  He  makes  a 
little  drove  all  by  himself,  and  some  writers  have  gone  to 
the  length  of  giving  him  a whole  age  to  himself,  the  uAge  of 
Man.”  We  cannot  consent  to  this,  for  ^ood  reasons.  One 
is  that  he  is  only  a mammal,  after  all,  and  has  not  yet 
sufficiently  differentiated  himself  from  his  relatives  to  justify 
such  a distinction  ; another  is  that  this  differentiation  is  still 
going  on  and  man  has  not  yet  reached  his  culmination.  If 
ive  are  on  hand  when  his  high  level  has  been  traversed  and 
lie  strikes  the  down  grade  we  will  revise  this  chapter  and 
allot  him  the  necessary  space. 

The  regular  order  of  things  provides  that  the  life  type 
shall  originate  in  one  age,  culminate  in  the  next  age,  and 
begin  to  decline  in  the  next.  Man  has  only  been  here  a 
short  time,  and  he  is  still  in  the  age  of  his  origin.  His  cul- 
mination will  come  in  the  next  age,  and  his  decline  in  the 
next.  What  will  be  the  type  of  life  that  will  sueef  ed  him  on 
this  globe?  There  is  already  more  essential  difference  be- 
tween an  American  or  English  naturalist  and  a native  of 
Terra  del  Fuego  or  Central  Australia  than  there  is  between 
the  latter  and  the  gorilla  and  chimpanzee. 


VEINS  AND  DEPOSITS. 

Let  us  consider  that  a portion  of  the  earth’s  crust  has  been 
humped  up  in  a long  ridge.  Now  a cross  section  of  the 
ridge  would  show  the  rock  strata  arched  upwards  across  the 
crown  of  the  ridge  and  arched  downwards  across  the  foot 
slopes  of  the  hill,  where  the  strata  curve  back  again  to  their 
former  level.  If  the  upheaval  was  sufficiently  powerful,  the 
rock  strata  would  be  cracked  across  into  wedge-shaped 
fissures  through  the  crowns  of  all  the  arches,  but  the  fissures 
in  the  up-bent  arch  would  have  the  wedge  butt  upwards, 
and  the  down-bent  arches  would  show  the  wedges  with  their 
butts  turned  downwards.  Now  let  us  suppose  these  fissures 
to  have  been  filled  with  melted  rock  which  had  cooled  and 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


51 


probably  coarsely  crystallized,  and  we  will  call  these  in- 
truded masses  of  eruptive  rock,  dykes. 

Again,  it  may  be  that  the  eruptive  rock  has  not  had  pres- 
sure enough  to  wholly  or  even  partially  fill  the  fissures,  and 
that  they  have  been  open  for  ages  but  gradually  choking  up 
by  deposits  crystallizing  on  the  walls,  formed  by  the  passage 
of  mineral  vapors  or  mineral  waters.  These  deposits  would 
form  in  layers  or  crusts,  one  on  top  of  another,  and  of 
various  compositions,  as  the  heat  or  force  varied.  In  course 
of  time  the  fissures  would  narrow  and  finally  choke  up,  and 
the  whole  affair  would  then  be  called  a vein.  The  walls  of 
the  fissures  would  be  irregular,  which  would  give  rise  to 
chimneys  or  openings,  through  which  the  mineral  vapors  or 
waters  would  rush  faster  after  the  narrower  portions  wrere 
choked  up,  and  thus  give  rise  to  more  sameness  of  constitu- 
tion at  tl^ese  points.  '* 

Again,  the  fissures  might  be  filled  by  the  percolation  of 
mineralized  water  through  the  wall  rocks,  or  by  water  from 
the  surface  which  would  deposit  its  minerals  on  the  walls, 
and  the  fall  of  portions  of  the  wall  rocks  or  the  washing  in 
of  surface  trash  helps  to  fill  up  the  fissure  with  materials 
that  are  not  needed  by  miners. 

Sometimes  the  fissures  are  mere  surface  cracks  formed  by 
the  cooling  down  and  shrinkage  of  hot  rocks,  which  are 
analagous  to  the  shrinkage  cracks  formed  in  mud  deposits 
left  high  and  dry  by  the  subsidence  of  a freshet.  These 
cracks  get  filled  up  by  deposits  of  mineral  matters  crystal- 
lized or  precipitated  out  of  impregnated  waters,  which  may 
find  their  way  in  from  above  or  below  ; or  may  concentrate 
in  the  cracks  by  exudation  from  the  sides  of  the  cooling 
rocks. 

When  this  class  of  vein  is  small  and  cuts  through  the 
rocks  in  many  directions  it  is  called  a ribbon  vein,  and  fine 
examples  of  it  are  often  seen  in  blue  limestone  cut  in  all 
directions  by  criss-cross  veins  of  white  calcite.  When  these 
veins  are  large  they  are  called  segregated  or  lenticular  veins, 
and  they  are  the  principal  gold-bearing  free-quartz  veins, 
but  they  do  no  carry  very  much  sulphide  ore 


52 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


These  lenticular  veins  are  found  sometimes  several  miles 
in  length,  forty  or  more  feet  wide  at  the  middle  and  running 
to  a point  at  each  end,  giving  them  the  ground-plan  shape 
of  a lenticle.  This  shape  is  all  right  for  ground  plan,  hut  it 
is  very  objectionable  when  applied  to  the  cross  section,  for 
then  the  vein  runs  down  to  a feather  edge  and  “ peters  out  ” 
in  depth  as  well  as  length. 

Whether  these  segregated  or  lenticular  veins  are  really 
formed  by  the  shrinkage  of  cooling  rocks,  or  whether  they 
are  the  wedge-shaped  fissures  of  the  up -bent  arches  before 
mentioned,  is  an  open  question,  and  in  such  cases  it  is  well 
to  assume  that  possibly  both  causes  had  a hand  in  the  effect. 
It  is,  however,  a fact  that  very  often  heavy  granite  or  trap 
dykes  are  found  paralleling  these  lenticular  veins  on  either 
side  and  this  would  support  the  view  of  the  lenticles  being  the 
fissures  at  the.  crown  of  an  arch,  while  the  dykes  were  the 
fissures  in  the  down-turned  arches  of  the  foot-hills.  We 
could  very  easily  determine  this  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact 
that  Mother  Nature  very  often  so  scoops  out  a hill  as  to 
make  a hollow  of  it,  and  fills  up  old  hollows  to  look  like 
hills. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  while  the  lenticular  veins  peter 
out  in  depth,  just  as  wedge-shaped  fissures,  point  downward, 
ought  to  do,  the  dykes  widen  out  in  depth  just  as  wedge- 
shaped  fissures,  point  upward,  ought  to  do ; and  this  brings 
us  to  the  point  that  these  heavy  dykes,  widening  downward, 
are  generally  the  fissures  which  contain  the  sulphide  ores  in 
greatest  strength  and  variety.  The  dykes  become  veins 
when  the  contents  of  the  fissures  change  from  barren,  erup- 
tive rock,  to  vein  stone  and  mineral.  These  are  the  big 
mines  of  silver,  copper,  lead,  zinc  and  iron  sulphide  ores, 
and  what  gold  they  contain  is  mixed  with  the  sulphides  of 
other  metals  and  came  up  with  them  from  below.  The  gold 
that  is  in  the  quartz-filled  lenticular  veins  most  likely  came 
in  from  above  after  having  been  released  from  sulphurous 
company  by  decomposition  of  sulphide  ores  out  of  the 
other  fissures 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


53 


There  is  a very  peculiar  class  of  mineral  deposit  among 
the  silver  districts  of  our  Western  Territories  which  appears 
to  be  the  passage  or  connection  of  a fissure  with  a cavern 
in  limestone,  and  the  subsequent  filling  of  both  fissure  and 
cavern  with  sulphide  ores.  Sometimes  the  fissure  is  a 
mere  ribbon  as  to  size,  but  the  cavern  contains  millions  of 
dollars  worth  of  ore.  Such  an  affair  was  the  Little  Emma 
mine — of  great  productiveness,  but  rascally  reputation.  A 
little  stringlet  of  ore  was  all  that  led  the  proprietor  to  the 
right  place. 

The  ore  deposit  called  a gash  vein  is  really  nothing  but 
a flattened  cavern  in  one  kind  or  bed  of  rock,  generally 
limestone.  The  flatness  can  be  either  vertical,  horizontal 
or  diagonal  when  referred  to  the  stratification  of  the  rock. 
Sometimes  these  veins  will  be  found  with  apparently  no 
communication  by  means  of  strings  of  ore,  but  clo.se  observ- 
ation will  generally  detect  some  open  joint  or  other  fissure 
through  which  the  ore  was  charged  in. 

There  is  also  a deposit  called  a contact  vein,  which  is 
generally  found  between  a bed  of  eruptive  rock  above,  and 
a bed  of  sedimentary  rock  below.  This  is  the  approved 
form  of  vein  at  Leadville,  where  the  carbonates  of  lead  and 
iron  containing  silver  chlorites  rest  on  limestone  and  are 
covered  by  an  overflow  of  porphyry.  Very  many  theories 
are  now  under  discussion  about  the  methods  of  the  depo- 
sition of  these  ores,  but  pending  the  decision  of  the 
problem  “how  it  got  in,”  the  practical  Leadvillians  are 
rapidly  showing  the  world  all  about  “how  to  get  it  out,” 
and  how  to  sell  stocks  on  it  after  it  has  disappeared. 
These  contact  veins,  having  no  side  walls  like  fissure  veins, 
admit  of  twisting  and  turning  the  drifts  underground  to- 
wards all  points,  and  thereby  the  miner  takes  out  nine- 
tenths  of  all  the  ore.  The  other  one-tenth  is  left  standing 
in  the  walls  of  the  drifts,  and  is  used  to  convince  inno- 
cent investors  that  the  blocks  of  rock  between  the  drifts 
are  solid  ore.  The  result  is  that  the  empty  mine  often  sells 
for  more  than  the  full  mine  was  worth. 


54 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  ROCKS. 


The  courts  of  Colorado  are  now  ruling  that  these  contact 
veins  are  not  really  “ veins,”  as  they  do  not  cut  through  the 
stratifications,  and  tfeat  they  are  really  beds  between  other 
beds  The  miners  are  also  beginning  to  call  them  by  a new 
name,  viz.:  blanket  lodes. 

Concerning  the  question  of  the  increase  or  decrease  of 
mineralization  of  veins  as  depth  is  attained,  there  is  an  abso- 
lute certainty  that  the  tendency  is  properly  towards  increasing 
with  depth,  as  the  whole  earth  weighs  up  to  a specific 
gravity  of  5.2,  according  to  the  astronomers,  whereas  the 
rocky  crust  averages  only  half  of  that.  This  means  that  the 
core  of  the  globe  is  composed  of  very  much  heavier  materials 
than  the  crust,  and  the  metals  are  the  only  substances 
known  which  are  heavier  than  the  rocks. 

No  mining  yet  done  by  man  has  gone  deep  enough  to  get 
below  the  influence  of  local  causes,  due  to  movements  of  the 
earth’s  crust,  so  as  to  reach  down  into  this  metalliferous 
globe  core,  and  it  may  be  that  some  millions  of  years  must 
elapse  before  the  globe  cools  down  sufficiently  to  permit  of 
it.  The  increasing  heat  of  the  rocks,  due  to  the  depth, 
and  the  heat  arising  from  oxidation  of  vein  rock,  due  to  the 
access  of  air,  have  rendered  it  almost  impossible  to  carry  the 
Comstock  workings  any  deeper. 

It  would  seem  that  the  class  of  veins  most  likely  to  lead 
into  this  metalliferous  earth  core  would  be  those  which  have 
the  point  of  the  wedge  upwards  and  which  widen  down- 
wards. In  a district  which  has  undergone  no  very  great 
amount  of  denudation  or  scouring  since  the  ridges  were 
upheaved,  these  veins  will  be  found  among  the  foot-hills,  or 
along  the  lower  portion  of  the  sides  of  the  ridges,  and 
striking  parallel  to  the  ridges,  and  they  are  more  likely  to 
carry  a preponderance  of  silver  than  of  gold.  The  “ blow- 
out ” veins  on  top  of  the  ridges  generally  carry  more  gold 
than  silver,  and  get  narrower  as  they  get  deeper,  and  they 
also  get  richer  with  depth,  principally  through  the  concen- 
tration of  the  same  amount  of  metal  in  a smaller  amount  of 
vein  stone.  There  is  also  the  additional  reason,  that  the 


BOTTOM  FACTS  AND  BED  BOCKS. 


55 


metals  being  heavier  than  the  vein  stone  they  would  avail 
of  every  disturbance  to  shake  themselves  down  a little 
further  every  time,  whether  the  vein  stone  happened  to  be  in 
liquid,  molten  or  solid  condition. 

When  we  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  any  injection  of  liquid 
or  vapor  from  below  towards  the  surface,  accompanied  by 
an  upheaval  of  a ridge  and  the  Assuring  of  the  upturned  and 
downturned  rock  arches,  would  be  simply  the  action  of  a 
gigantic  ‘ squirt,”  we  will  see  reasons  why  the  squirted  sub- 
stance, cut  off  by  the  closing  of  the  Assure  bottoms  under 
the  crown  of  the  centre  arch,  should  break  a passage  through 
to  the  side  Assures  or  come  through  to  the  surface  at  new 
points  further  up  the  ridge  slopes.  This  action  would 
account  for  the  presence  of  bodies  of  valuable  mineral  in  the 
country  rock  entirely  outside  of  the  rock  walls  of  the  regular 
Assures,  and  the  breaking  down  of  masses  of  wall  rock. 
Some  of  the  greatest  ‘ Bonanzas”  of  modern  times  are 
found  thus  situated  out  in  the  country  rock  beyond  the 
vein  walls. 


II. 

THE  COAL  MEASURES, 


Carbon — Bituminous  Coal,  Anthracite,  Cannel,  Splint 
or  Block,  Lignite,  Peat,  Coke.  Position — False 
Coals,  Lower  Coals,  Upper  Coals,  Triassic  Coals, 
Tertiary  Coals. 


CARBON. 

This,  the  great  heat  and  life-sustaining  element,  appears  to 
have  been  one  of  the  latest  of  the  overhead  gases  in  getting 
down  to  the  crust  of  the 'earth.  The  old  conundrum,  as  to 
whether  the  chicken  preceded  the  egg  or  the  egg  the  chicken, 
is  paralled  in  modern  times  by  the  analogous  one  of  whether 
carbon  preceded  life  or  life  preceded  carbon  on  this  world. 
Certain  it  is  that  wherever  we  find  life  or  the  remains  of  life 
we  also  find  carbon,  and  wherever  we  find  carbon  we  find 
life  or  its  remains. 

There  is  a small  percentage  of  carbonic  acid  still  remaining 
in  the  air.  Vegetation  is  continually  absorbing  it,  and  a 
portion  of  it  is  being  continually  breathed  back  again  into 
the  air  by  animals  who  live  on  vegetables,  or  on  other  ani- 
mals who  live  on  vegetables.  Another  portion  gets  back 
into  the  air  by  the  death  and  decomposition  of  animals  and 
vegetables,  but  a large  portion  gets  permanently  locked  up 
in  the  tissues  of  the  earth’s  crust  by  being  mineralized  into 
coal,  and  by  being  turned  into  limestone  by  the  insects  and 
infusoria,  as  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  Bed  Rocks. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


57 


Within  recent  centuries,  man  has  begun  to  assist  his 
Mother  Nature  in  this  process  of  returning  carbon  to  the 
air  by  burning  coal  and  limestone  in  increasing  quantities, 
and  thereby  prolonging  his  lease  of  life  on  this  planet. 

The  crystalline  marbles  of  the  primary  formations  con- 
tain the  earliest  known  carbon,  and  the  graphite  of  the 
same  formations  came  next.  After  the  great  and  good  sub- 
stance once  reached  the  earth’s  surface,  it  continued  to  come 
down  in  increasing  quantities  up  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Carboniferous  age.  Then  its  rate  of  descent  remained  about 
stationary  throughout  that  age,  and  has  decreased  ever 
since,  until  now  we  have  not  much  more  left  to  come  and 
go  upon. 

It  is  thought  that  at  the  setting  in  of  the  Carboniferous 
ages  the  regions  now  constituting  the  coal  fields  were  great 
level  swamps  pretty  much  filled  up  with  the  sands  and  silts 
of  the  previous  rather  quiet  Devonian  times.  These  swamps 
were  covered  with  a luxuriant  growth  of  peat  moss,  urged 
into  extraordinary  rapidity  of  growth  by  a great  quantity  of 
carbonic  acid  in  the  air  of  those  days.  A few  thousand 
years  of  such  growth,  and  then  a slight  subsidence  of  the 
land,  and  a period  of  submergence  during  which  the  waters 
laid  down  a series  of  sands  and  silts  in  layers,  and  then  an 
uprising  of  the  land  again,  appears  to  have  been  the  order  of 
the  procession.  This,  repeated  many  times,  and  then  the 
lapse  of  some  millions  of  years,  in  order  to  give  time  for 
the  peat  to  mineralize  into  coal,  and  the  sands  and  silts 
to  harden  into  slates,  shales  and  clays,  would  produce 
exactly  what  we  now  find  in  all  our  great  coal  fields. 

We  should  expect  that  coals  produced  in  this  way  would 
vary  in  composition  fully  as  much  as  other  rocks.  The  peat 
bogs  are  liable  at  any  time  to  have  slight  overflows  from 
local  freshets,  and  these  will  deposit  layers  of  sand  or  silt  in 
some  spots  and  not  in  others.  These  will  be  found  in  the 
coal  as  streaks  of  shale  or  slate  which  thin  out  and  disappear 
further  on.  Sometimes  the  sand  or  other  trash  will  be 
mixed  in  with  the  peat  moss,  and  this  results  in  sandy  coal. 


58 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


Then  again,  more  hydrogen  will  be  locked  up  in  the  coal  in 
one  moss  than  another.  One  portion  may  be  afterwards 
better  covered  up  by  hills  of  new  rocks  than  others,  or  an 
intrusion  of  melted  rock  or  upheaval  of  mountains  may  burn 
out  some  of  the  hydrogen  or  other  constituents,  and  thus 
make  anthracite  or  natural  coke  in  portions  of  the  coal  field. 

The  normal  coal  appears  to  be  about  what  is  called  bitu- 
minous coal,  and  is  best  represented  by  the  coal  of  the  great 
Pittsburgh  bed ; all  other  coals  appearing  to  be  either  incom- 
plete or  else  complete  coal  altered  by  heat. 

BITUMINOUS  COAL. 

This  is  the  great  coal  of  the  world,  and  well  it  deserves  its 
place,  for  it  contains  everything  that  goes  to  make  up  coal, 
and  can  be  altered  by  man  so  as  to  suit  any  of  his  special 
purposes.  A descriptive  list  of  its  best  variety  is  about  as 
follows : 

Gravity 1.1  to  1.3 

Hardness 1.0  to  1.5 

Carbon 85  p.  ct. 

Hydrogen 5 p.  ct. 

Lustre,  sub-vitreous;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  black; 
feel,  smooth  to  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  seemingly 
great  but  really  slight,  as  its  square  breakage  is  owing  not  to 
crystallization,  but  to  jointed  structure;  fracture,  even; 
texture,  granular,  cubic. 

Very  often  there  is  an  iridescence  on  the  surfaces  of 
blocks,  and  the  coal  is  then  called  “ peacock  coal.”  This  is  the 
composition  of  normal  coal,  but  hardly  any  two  beds  con- 
tain coal  of  exactly  similar  constitution.  The  differences, 
however,  among  the  coals  of  any  one  age  and  locality  are 
not  very  large,  and  are  generally  only  just  enough  to  make 
one  bed  give  the  best  gas  coal,  another  the  best  coking  coal, 
another  the  best  blacksmitliing  coal,  and  another  the  best 
steam  coal,  and  so-  on. 

An  important  feature  in  these  coals  is  their  power  of 
resisting  slaking  by  exposure  to  the  weather.  Coals  that 


* ^ 

Water 3 p.  ct. 

Ash 2 p.  ct. 


T11E  COAL  MEASURES 


59 


will  slake,  or  that  will  crumble  when  handled,  must  be  used 
where  mined,  and  are,  therefore,  least  valuable 

ANTHRACITE. 


This  is  bituminous  coal  which  has  been  metamorphosed 
by  heat  and  pressure,  which  have  burned  out  some  of  its 
hydrogen  and  compacted  it.  Its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 


Gravity 1.5  to  1.8 

Hardness 2.3  to  2.6 

Carbon  93.0  p.  ct. 

Hydrogen 1.5  p.  ct. 


Oxygen 1.5  p.  ct. 

Water 2.0  p.  ct. 

Ash.... ..2.0  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  resinous;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  black;  feel, 
smooth ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  none ; fracture,  even  to 
conclioidal;  texture,  massive. 

This  coal  will  not  burn  into  coke,  because  it  is  already  a 
natural  coke  compressed  from  a porous  structure  into  mas- 
sive texture.  The  ash  that  is  left  after  burning  anthracite  is 
white  or  red,  the  white  being  normal,  and  the  red  results 
from  the  presence  of  iron  oxide.  Sulphur  occurs  in  all 
coals,  but  least  of  all  in  anthracite,  the  heat  that  anthracited 
the  coal  having  burnt  out  most  of  the  sulphur. 

All  the  beds  of  both  the  upper  and  lower  coals  are  anthra- 
cited in  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  where  there,  is  the  greatest 
assemblage  of  coal  beds  known,  although  unfortunately  the 
total  area  of  the  three  anthracite  coal  fields  is  only  about  five 
hundred  square  miles.  There  is  a field  of  this  coal  in  Rhode 
Island,  but  its  position  among  the  upper  and  lower  coals  is 
not  determined.  It  is  so  hard  and  useless  that  geologists 
think  it  will  be  the  last  thing  to  be  burned  up  when  the  final 
conflagration  comes.  There  are  also  beds  of  sub-conglom- 
erate coals  in  Arkansas,  and  of  lignite  coals  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  which  have  been  anthracited  by  the  heat  evolved 
during  the  upheaval  of  the  Ozarks  and  the  Rockies,  and 
there  are  a great  many  places  where  the  false  coals  have 
been  metamorphosed,  more  or  less. 

Anthracite  is  so  hard  and  so  free  from  expansion  and 
contraction  under  heat  changes  that  it  is  much  in  favor  as  a 


60 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


fuel  for  blast  furnaces,  but  for  puddling  and  other  reverbera- 
tory furnaces  it  does  not  give  flame  enough.  The  invention 
of  the  regenerative  gas  furnace,  however,  enables  it  to  be 
used  by  dosing  it  once  with  oxygen  in  the  producer,  turning 
it  into  carbonic  oxide,  and  then  dosing  it  again  in  the  com- 
bustion chamber,  thus  obtaining  all  sorts  of  a flame. 

The  use  of  anthracite  for  household  purposes  is  rapidly 
extending  in  Chicago  and  other  western  cities,  not  only 
owing  to  its  superior  cleanliness  and  freedom  from  smoke, 
but  also  because  of  the  exertions  of  the  trunk  line  railroads 
and  other  shippers.  These  have,  until  lately,  been  sending 
grain  to  the  eastward  with  no  compensating  west-bound 
freight  to  fill  their  cars  and  vessels.  Now  they  are  offering 
low  freights  to  the  coal  men,  and  the  increase  of  this  traffic 
enables  them  to  cut  down  their  grain  rates  and  thus  relieve 
the  mind  of  the  granger.  On  the  same  principle,  ships 
which  formerly  paid  for  ballast  now  get  paid  for  bringing 
coal  and  iron  ore  from  Europe  to  America  as  ballast. 

CANNEL. 


This  coal  is  a variety  of  the  bituminous  coal,  but  differs 
enough  to  require  a separate  place  and  descriptive  list : 


Gravity . . . 
Hardness. 
Carbon.  .. 
Hydrogen, 


1.0  to  1.2 
1.5  to  2.0 
.82  p.  ct. 
. 5 p.  ct. 


Oxygen 8 p.  ct. 

Water 3 p.  ct. 

Ash 2 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  dull  resinous;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  black; 
feel,  smooth  to  greasy ; elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile ; cleavage, 
imperfect;  fracture,  conchoidal;  texture,  massive. 

This  coal  is  never  found  in  a bed  entirely  by  itself,  there 
being  always  an  inch  or  two  of  laminated  bituminous  coal 
interstratified.  In  many  places  a seam  of  coal  will  be  half 
cannel  and  half  bituminous. 

Cannel  coal  chips  will  take  fire  and  burn  easily  like 
candles  or  pitch  pine.  This  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  a 
large  percentage  of  mineral  oil.  Even  now,  since  petroleum 
has  sold  down  below  sixty  cents  per  barrel,  the  men  who 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


61 


make  refined  mineral  oil  by  distillation  from  cannel  coal,  in 
Kentucky  and  West  Virginia,  are  not  broken  up,  nor  do 
they  seem  to  be  losing  any  extra  amount  of  sleep.  Paraffine 
is  one  of  their  chief  products,  and  very  fine  lubricating 
oils  also. 

Cannel  coal  brings  fancy  prices  in  New  York  for  use  in 
open  grate  library  fires,  and  there  certainly  is  a sort  of  family 
resemblance  between  slippers,  smoking  caps,  Turkish  pipes 
and  library  fires  of  cannel  coal  at  ten  dollars  per  ton. 

SPLINT  OR  BLOCK. 

This  is  a very  valuable  member  of  the  bituminous  coal 
group,  and  its  description  is  this : 


Gravity ». 1.0  to  1.4 

Hardness 1.3  to  1.7 

Carbon 84  p.  ct. 

Hydrogen 5 p.  ct. 


Oxygen 7 p.  ct. 

Water 2 p.  ct. 

Ash 2 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  resinous  and  dull  vitreous  alternately ; clearness, 
opaque;  color, black;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity, brittle ; cleavage, 
imperfect ; fracture,  uneven  ; texture,  foliated. 

This  coal  is  made  up  of  alternate  leaves  of  ordinary  bitu- 
minous coal  and  cannel  coal,  and  its  great  value  consists  in 
its  freedom  from  expansion  and  contraction  under  heat- 
changes.  It  is  thus  enabled  to  hold  Up  the  “burden”  in 
smelting  furnaces,  and  it  does  not  swell  up  and  cake,  and 
thus  choke  off  the  passage  of  the  air  blast.  Why  these  qual- 
ities should  result  from  a mixture  of  two  coals,  both  of 
which  do  swell  up  more  or  less,  is  not  clearly  determined, 
but  the  fact  that  block  coal  is  frequently  found  to  contain 
more  oxygen  than  the  above  table  states  may  have  something 
to  do  with  it.  It  is  also  possible  that  the  different  layers 
may  behave  differently  at  similar  heat  degrees  and  thus 
counteract  each  other. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  coals  of  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  Illinois  and  Indiana  coal  field  and  those  of  the  western 
edge  of  the  Appalachian  coal  field  are  the  block  coals,  and 
the  presence  of  the  great  “ Cincinnati  rise  ” between  them 
may  influence  them. 


62 


TIIE  COAL  MEASURES. 


LIGNITE. 

This  is  the  connecting  link  between  the  two  full-grown 
coals  and  the  yet  growing  peats  of  the  present  day.  It  is 
a very  important  substance  to  all  the  western  half  of  our 
country,  and,  therefore,  we  give  below  the  descriptive  list  of 
good  average  Rocky  Mountain  lignite : 


Gravity... 
Hardness . 
Carbon ... 
Hydrogen. 


.1.0  to  1.2 
.0.8  to  1.2 
06  p.  ct. 
. 4 p.  ct. 


Oxygen, 
Water . . 
Ash 


18  p.  ct. 
0 p.  ct. 
3 p.  ct 


Lustre,  resinous  to  dull ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  black 
to  brown;  feel,  smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
imperfect ; fracture,  even  to  uneven ; texture,  massive  to 
lamellar. 

There  are  two  distinct  textures  to  lignite,  and  they  are  the 
same  as  the  two  which  mark  cannel  coal  and  bituminous; 
one  is  apt  to  break  up  into  plates  or  little  cubes,  while  the 
other  is  massive,  and  fractures  in  conclioidal  surfaces.  The 
two  textures  in  lignite  are  also  found  sometimes  alternated, 
just  as  in  the  splint  coals  of  full  growth.  To  complete  the 
analogy,  the  lignites  in  many  places  in  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region  are  anthracited  as  completely  as  are  the  lower  coals 
in  the  Pennsylvania  districts. 

There  are  spots  on  this  globe  where  a peat  bog  is  peat  on 
top  and  good  lignite  on  bottom,  and  thus  lignite  is  the  coal 
of  the  quaternary  as  well  as  the  tertiary  formations.  It  will 
be  again  mentioned  under  the  heading  of  Tertiary  Coal. 

PEAT.' 

Although  peat  is  not  coal,  yet,  as  it  is  the  carbon  basis  from 
which  all  coal  is  derived,  we  will  give  some  of  its  points,  as 
follows : 


Gravity  1.0  to  1.2 

Hardness 0.5  to  1.0 

Carbon, 30  p.  ct. 

Hydrogen 6 p.  ct. 


Oxygen 
Water. . 
Ash 


.30  p.  ct. 
30  p.  ct. 
4 p.  ct. 


TIIE  COAL  MEASURES. 


G3 


Lustre,  dull ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  grayish  brown  to 
black;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile;  fracture, 
uneven  to  conchoidal ; texture,  earthy  to  massive. 

In  a peat  bog  ten  feet  deep  the  moss  on  the  top  will  be 
still  growing,  while  the  peat  at  the  bottom  can  be  carved 
into  a jet-like  pipe,  polished  highly,  and  can  be  used  for 
smoking  fine  tobacco  without  injury  to  the  flavor  thereof, 
as  the  writer  knows  by  experience. 

Mountain  tops  are  curious  places  to  find  peat,  but  there 
are  mountains  in  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  whose  tops  are 
covered  with  peat  moss,  into  which  horses  sink  knee  deep. 
The  writer  has  seen  peat  crawling  up  a dry  and  sandy  hill- 
side, from  a footing  in  a little  stream  at  the  bottom^ 
Whether  it  supplies  itself  by  capillary  attraction  from  the 
bottom,  or  whether  it  simply  stores  up  the  falling  rain  by 
shading  the  sand  as  it  reaches  upward,  was  not  apparent, 
but  most  probably  both  methods  were  employed. 

In  most  peat  bogs  the  fibrous  structure  of  the  moss  is 
nearly  obliterated  at  a depth  of  two  feet  below  the  surface, 
the  materials  being  mineralized. 

COKE. 

This  is  the  carbon  that  is  left  after  burning  olf  all  the 
other  substances,  which  of  course  take  off  some  of  the  carbon 
with  them ; so  that  coke  does  not  weigh  so  much  as  the 
carbon  percentage  of  the  coal  it  came  from  would  indicate. 
Coke  varies  so  much  in  physical  features  that  we  cannot 
construct  a proper  descriptive  list  for  it. 

Coals  that  produce  good  coke  are  scientifically  called 
caking  coals,  because  the  volatile  gases  in  them  swell  up  and 
cake  together,  and  gradually  oxidize  and  disappear  by  dis- 
tillation, leaving  such  carbon  behind  as  escaped  combustion. 

Good  caking  coals  are  found  in  all  the  beds,  from  lignite 
down  to  the  bottom;  and  the  only  sure  way  to  test  them 
is  to  try  the  experiment  of  coking  them  both  in  oven  and 
in  open  air  heaps,  as  some  coals  will  coke  under  circum- 
stances which  will  burn  others  completely  away. 


64 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


Coking  coal  of  the  very  first  class  is  about  as  valuable 
property  as  an  unsatisfied  mortal  can  get  hold  of.  Look  at 
the  coke  of  the  Connellsville  region  of  West  Pennsylvania! 
The  coal  is  the  great  Pittsburgh  bed,  and  it  is  so  valuable 
for  coke  that  they  cannot  afford  to  waste  it  on  gas,  although, 
properly  handled,  it  is  the  best  gas  coal  in  the  country. 
That  coke  is  now  shipped  to  Arizona  by  rail,  where  it  sells 
for  eighty  dollars  per  ton,  and  yet  it  pays  the  silver  miners 
to  use  it  in  their  furnaces.  It  is  also  the  principal  smelting 
fuel  for  the  Lake  Superior  iron  ores,  at  Chicago,  Cleveland 
and  other  convenient  meeting  points.  Coke  from  Western 
Pennsylvania  is  also  coming  eastward  in  rapidly  increasing 
quantities  to  mix  with  anthracite  in  smelting  iron.  It  makes 
a more  open-grained  iron  than  anthracite  alone,  and  this  is 
considered  a valuable  feature  by  the  makers  of  Bessemer 
steel. 

There  is  a very  fair  quality  of  natural  coke  near  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  which  is  produced  by  the  intrusion  of  a hot 
granite  dyke  through  a bed  of  triassic  coal. 


POSITIONS. 

Our  good  Mother  Nature  indulged  herself  in  five  serious 
spells  of  coal-making  while  building  the  masonry  of  this 
continent.  These'  spells  came  on  during  the  sub-carbon- 
iferous, the  lower  carboniferous,  the  upper  carboniferous,  the 
triassic  and  the  tertiary  ages,  and  she  is  still  at  work  making 
peat  in  this  the  quaternary  age.  Before  these  serious 
attacks  came  on  she  had  tried  her  hand  in  making  graphite 
beds  and  black  bituminous  shales,  but  the  false  coals  of  the 
sub-carboniferous  period  were  evidently  what  reassured  her 
and  encouraged  her  to  believe  that  she  really  could  make 
good  coal  if  she  kept  on  trying.  She  kept  on  and  succeeded, 
and  we  will  now  inspect  her  work. 


TIIE  COAL  MEASURES. 


G5 


FALSE  COALS. 

These  coals  are  in  among  the  bottom  ledges  of  the  carbon- 
iferous rocks,  and  a good  deal  of  valuable  carbon  was  wasted 
in  making  them.  They  are  several  thousand  feet  vertically 
below  the  great  millstone  grit  or  conglomerate  rock,  and 
they  are  underlaid  by  the  red  shales  and  sandstones  of  the 
upper  Devonian.  These  can  best  be  identified  by  going  east- 
ward to  the  Oriskany  sandstone,  which  is  the  third  great 
plate  of  sandstone  above  the  primary  crystalline  rocks,  and 
is  remarkable  for  being  disfigured  by  pebbles  of  iron  ore 
which  stain  its  coarse  and  gritty  surface. 

Starting  from  this  rock,  which  is  found  nearly  always  on 
top  of  a ridge,  and  going  west,  the  red  sandstone  and  shale, 
just  below  the  false  coal  measures,  are  the  first  of  any  great 
size  that  we  come  to,  and  they  are  nearly  always  found  in  a 
valley  or  well  down  toward  the  eastern  foot  of  a ridge.  On 
top  of  this  ridge  is  a grayish  coarse  sandstone  full  of  very 
small  pebbles  and  looking  very  much  like  a subdued  sort  of 
millstone  grit.  This  sandstone  is  marked  by  false  bedding, 
the  strata  being  cracked  into  blocks  and  built  up  somewhat 
like  rubble  masonry.  Resting  on  this  gray  sandstone  the 
false  coal  measures  are  found  as  a succession  of  thin  coal 
beds  and  thick  slates  or  shales,  alternating  with  each  other. 

This  coal  outcrops  in  many  places  along  the  line  of  the 
Appalachian  upheaval  from  the  Susquehanna  River  to  the 
Coosa  River,  in  Alabama.  It  is  found  near  Harrisburg  in  a 
spot  where  a great  deal  of  money  has  been  spent  to  develop 
it , but  no  valuable  results  have  followed.  It  is  found  again 
on  Sideling  Hill,  in  Maryland,  and  in  the  valley  of  Meadow 
Branch,  west  of  North  Mountain,  on  the  road  from  Martins- 
burg  to  Bath,  in  West  Virginia.  At  this  place  a shaft 
seventy  feet  deep  passed  through  five  beds  of  coal,  anthra- 
cite in  character,  but  worthless,  as  the  writer  gouged  out 
handfuls  of  the  coal  from  the  exposed  surface  of  each  bed. 
The  five  beds  made  up  a thickness  of  eighteen  feet,  but  the 
coal  was  simply  coal  dust  and  would  not  stand  any  sort  of 
handling. 


G6 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


The  Dora  coal  mines,  near  Rawley  Springs,  are  of  this 
same  horizon,  but  the  coal  is  in  better  condition  and  some  of 
it  will  bear  transportation.  This  coal  comes  to  the  surface 
once  or  twice  in  the  lateral  valleys  running  into  James 
River  below  Clifton  Forge,  and  again  at  Brushy  and  Price’s 
Mountain’s,  near  Christiansburg,  Virginia.  These  two  local- 
ities supply  a fair-sized  neighborhood  demand  with  a toler- 
ably good  semi-anthracite  coal,  but  the  people  don’t  know 
how  to  use  it  to  the  best  advantage,  as  they  burn  it  in  open 
grates  and  otherwise  as  bituminous  coal  is  used.  The  beds 
at  these  mines  are  only  two  or  three  feet  thick,  and  but  one 
bed  at  each  place.  One  of  them  has  the  bed  folded  over  on 
itself,  giving  double  thickness. 

Near  Martin’s  Station,  on  the  Norfolk  & Western  Railroad, 
there  is  another  opening  on  the  false  coal  measures,  and 
here  they  find  a thirty-inch  bed  of  good  semi-antliracite,  and 
a twenty-foot  bed  of  crumpled  coal.  The  owners  work  the 
good  lump  coal  and  anathematize  the  coal  dust  and  make  a 
little  money  both  ways.  The  writer  thinks  that  careful 
examination  will  develop  this  bed  of  lump  coal  in  larger 
size  at  points  to  the  south  and  southwest  from  the  present 
mines,  and  some  sixty  or  more  miles  distant,  in  the  hills 
between  New  River  and  the  Upper  Holston. 

These  false  coals  occur  at  several  places  along  the  base  of 
the  Cumberland  Mountain,  and  again  in  the  eastern  foot-hills 
of  Lookout  Mountain,  near  Dalton,  in  Georgia,  where  they 
have  been  worked  without  valuable  results.  Also,  in  the 
bed  of  a creek  three  miles  from  Gadsden,  Alabama;  while 
the  lower  beds  of  the  true  coals  are  found  on  top  of  Lookout 
Mountain,  only  a mile  or  two  off. 

We  are  thus  particular  about  this  semi-worthless  stuff,  as 
we  know  that  money  will  be  saved  to  some  of  our  readers. 
We  have  been  professionally  retained  several  times  to  exam- 
ine grounds,  where  heavy  money  spending  was  going  on, 
and  advise  owners  what  to  do,  and  we  have  seen  a great  deal 
of  money  lost  in  pushing  operations  against  our  advice. 
The  same  terrestrial  disturbance  which  cracked  the  gray 


TIIE  COAL  MEASURES. 


G7 


pebbly  sandstone  and  false  bedded  it  was  certainly  the  force 
which  crumbled  the  coal,  and  the  chances  are  overwhelm- 
ingly against  success  in  any  venture  depending  for  a profit 
on  sending  the  coal  to  market.  The  market  won’t  have  it. 
Where  limestone  and  iron  ores  are  near  by,  something 
might  be  done  by  burning  lime,  and  possibly  iron  could  be 
smelted  by  balling  the  coal  dust  with  coal  tar,  etc.  It  might 
be  used  as  a low-grade  fuel  for  steam  power,  by  using  very 
large  fire  boxes.  It  actually  is  used  for  boiling  salt  water  at 
Saltville,  Virginia,  and  for  smelting  zinc  ore  at  Martin' s 
Station. 

LOWER  COALS. 

These  coals  furnish  three-fourtlis,  at  least,  of  the  entire 
coal  supply  of  the  world.  The  fourth  great  sandstone,  the 
one  which  caps  the  main  Allegheny  backbone,  is  the  distin- 
guishing mark  of  these  coals,  and  is  called  the  conglomerate 
or  mill-stone  grit.  The  coals  are  both  above  and  below  it. 
The  sub-conglomerate  coals  commence  in  the  valley  of  the 
Kanawha  River,  near  Quinnemont,  and  continue  thence  to 
the  southwest  into  Alabama.  Between  these  coals  and  the 
false  coals  there  are  several  hundred  feet  of  sandstones, 
slates,  shales  and  shelly  limestones,  in  Pennsylvania,  but 
these  all  graduate  into  a mountain  limestone  as  we  go  south, 
and  in  the  Cumberland  Mountain  we  find  false  coal  at  the 
base,  then  five  to  seven  hundred  feet  of  blue  and  gray  lime- 
stone, then  shales,  etc.,  containing  two  good  beds  of  true 
lower  coal,  capped  over  all  by  the  conglomerate.  The  con- 
glomerate is  the  table  rock  of  the  elevated  plains  on  the 
mountains,  but  there  are  terraces  on  top  of  this  table  land, 
which  terraces  are  made  up  of  the  shales,  slates  and  coals 
which  in  Pennsylvania  produce  the  anthracites,  and  in 
Maryland  are  found  near  Cumberland.  The  Sewannee  coal 
mines  of  Tennessee  are  in  these  terraces. 

The  sub-conglomerate  coals  are  the  coals  worked  most  ex- 
tensively near  Chattanooga,  but  one  or  two  of  the  terrace  beds 
are  also  found,  and  at  a point  some  thirty  miles  up  the 
Tennessee  River  there  is  a great  thickening  up  of  the  coal 


68 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


beds,  and  very  fine  gas  and  coking  coals  have  been  recently 
discovered.  The  heavy  beds  now  being  developed  near 
Cumberland  Gap  are  also  mostly  sub-conglomerate  coals, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  the  Coal  Creek  beds. 

The  Coosa,  Cahawba  and  Black  Warrior  coal  fields  of  Ala- 
bama are  also  in  the  sub-conglomerate,  and  furnish  most  ex- 
cellent coal.  Fortunately,  the  existence  of  enormous  iron 
ore  beds,  and  the  presence  of  the  mountain  limestone,  and  the 
good  coking  qualities  of  much  of  the  coal  render  its  immediate 
and  local  utilization  very  profitable,  and,  in  fact,  there  are 
very  few  localities  in  this  country  so  favored  in  these  re- 
spects. 

The  Illinois  coal  field,  extending  into  Indiana  and  Western 
Kentucky,  is  now  considered  to  belong  to  this  sub-con- 
glomerate division.  In  Illinois,  the  coal  near  Muddy  River, 
below  St.  Louis,  is  a most  excellent  coal;  but  the  coal  of 
about  all  the  rest  of  the  State  is  very  inferior,  containing 
sulphur  and  alx  sorts  of  deleterious  impurities.  It,  however, 
underlies  three-fourths  of  the  State,  and  can  be  dug  up  on 
almost  anybody’s  farm,  so  that  it  compensates  for  the 
absence  of  timber  on  the  prairies,  so  far  as  domestic  fuel  is 
concerned.  In  Indiana  the  eastern  edge  of  the  coal  field, 
from  Brazil  down  to  the  Ohio  River,  affords  a very  valuable 
variety  of  splint  or  block  coal,  which  holds  the  “burden”  in 
an  iron  furnace  very  well,  and  is  used  raw. 

In  Kentucky  these  sub-conglomerate  coals  afford  a very 
rich,  oily  cannel  coal  in  the  region  of  the  Tradewater  River. 
It  is  called  Breckenridge  coal,  and  is  a fine  material  for  the 
distillation  of  paraffine  and  the  mineral  oils. 

There  is  a coal  field  in  Michigan  which  is  also  referred  to 
these  sub-conglomerates,  but  as  it  only  contains  one  bed 
about  three  feet  thick  and  of  very  impure  coal  it  is  not  of 
much  importance  except  for  household  and  local  use. 

West  of  the  Mississippi  River  there  is  a fine  lay-out  of 
coal,  extending  in  broken  doses  from  Central  Iowa  down 
through  Missouri,  Kansas,  Indian  Territory,  Arkansas  into 
Texas.  It  keeps  mainly  to  the  west  of  the  Ozark  moun- 


TIIE  COAL  MEASURES. 


69 


tains,  and  it  has  coal  beds  which  are  allied  to  the  sub-con- 
glomerate and  to  the  beds  above  the  conglomerate  also. 
There  is,  undoubtedly,  some  very  fine  coal  in  Iowa  and 
Southeastern  Kansas,  much  of  it  being  fair  coking  coal. 
This  coal  field  is  larger  in  area  than  the  Appalachian  coal 
fields,  but  it  has  only  two  to  four  workable  beds,  and  none 
of  these  have  over  five  feet  of  thickness.  The  writer  sug- 
gests that  this  whole  field  should  be  named  the  Ozark  coal 
field,  for  it  really  surrounds  the  Ozark  mountain  range. 
The  Iowa  end  of  it  curves  down  to  St.  Charles,  eighteen 
miles  from  St.  Louis,  and  from  thence  it  is  found  in  small 
isolated  troughs  down  through  Eastern  Missouri  and 
Arkansas  into  Texas,  in  many  places  being  anthracited,  pre- 
sumably by  the  heat  of  the  Ozark  upheaval. 

Returning  now  to  the  Appalachian  coal  field,  we  will  be- 
gin on  the  conglomerate  and  work  upward.  The  first  coal 
bed  of  any  value  we  come  to  is  the  Lower  Kittanning, 
which  in  the  East  is  known  as  Buck  Mountain  Vein. 
There  are  sometimes  three  beds  of  this  separated  by  shales 
and  clays,  and  it  is  really  a group  of  beds.  The  bottom 
bed  furnishes  a block  or  splint  coal,  while  the  other  two  are 
simply  good  coal,  anthracite  in  the  east  and  bituminous  in 
the  west.  The  three  beds  aggregate  in  many  places  about 
ten  feet  in  thickness,  and  sometimes  they  are  found  with 
merely  clay  partings  between  them.  The  Upper  Kittanning 
coal  comes  next,  and  in  the  northern  part  of  the  coal  field  it 
is  not  found  thick  enough  to  work.  It  is,  however,  the 
great  cannel  coal-bearing  vein,  and  is  the  cannel  coal  of  the 
West  Virginia  and  East  Kentucky  regions.  These  Lower 
and  Upper  Kittanning  beds  are  separated  by  a micaceous 
sandstone  of  considerable  thickness,  and  they  are  the  coals 
of  the  Clearfield  region,  the  Broad  Top  and  the  Allegheny 
Summit  and  Stony  Creek  Valley  regions. 

Next  above  these,  with  about  a hundred  feet  of  soft 
shales  supervening,  comes  the  Lower  Freeport  coal,  which 
ranges  about  four  feet  thick  of  excellent  coal,  which  cokes 
well.  Then  come  in  more  shale  and  sandstone  and  an 


70 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


eight-foot  bed  of  limestone ; then  a little  more  shale,  and  we 
come  to  the  Upper  Freeport  coal,  called  in  the  East  the 
Mammoth  Vein,  and  in  Cumberland  the  Big  Vein.  In  the 
anthracite  regions  this  vein  is  sometimes  one  solid  bed  fifty 
to  sixty  feet  thick,  and  sometimes  it  is  a group  of  two  or 
three  thinner  veins.  In  the  Cumberland  region  it  is  four- 
teen feet  of  the  best  semi-bituminous  coal.  These  two 
Freeport  coals  are  also  found  in  the  Stony  Creek  region, 
where  the  Big  Vein  is  reduced  to  five  or  six  feet  in  thick- 
ness. The  Cumberland  coal  basin  contains  all  four  of  the 
groups  of  the  lower  coals  above  the  conglomerate,  viz. : the 
two  Kittanning  groups  and  the  two  Freeport  groups. 

These  are  all  the  valuable  beds  of  the  lower  coal  meas- 
ures, and  the  whole  series  is  capped  and  overlaid  by  the 
great  Mahoning  sandstone,  which  is  the  fifth  great  plate  of 
sandstone  above  the  primary  rocks.  This  sandstone  is 
found  in  the  anthracite  regions,  but  has  not  been  definitely 
recognized  in  the  Cumberland  region  or  elsewhere  to  the 
east  of  the  Allegheny  backbone.  It  forms  the  table  rock  of 
Ohio  Pyle  Falls  on  the  Youghiogheny  River  above  Connells- 
ville,  and  dips  under  the  great  Pittsburgh  basin,  re-appear- 
ing in  Ohio  close  to  the  Pennsylvania  line.  Everywhere 
west  of  its  re-appearance  the  beds  of  these  four  groups  of 
lower  coals  come  up  to  the  surface  again,  and  the  great 
Ohio  coal  region  commences  and  continues  westward  until 
these  coal  beds  “peter  out”  as  they  approach  the  axis  of 
the  grea„  “ Cincinnati  rise.” 

All  down  through  West  Virginia,  Southeast  Ohio  and 
Norther  it  Kentucky,  this  great  trough  of  Mahoning  sand- 
stone, underlaid  by  the  lower  coals,  continues,  and  the  Ohio 
River  runs  along  the  centre  of  it  as  far  as  Huntingdon,  when 
it  suddenly  turns  westward  and  cuts  out  through  the  side  of 
the  trough  owing  to  the  elevation  of  the  country  south. 
The  Mahoning  sandstone  itself  thins  down  and  peters  out  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Pound  Gap,  and  from  there  on  down 
the  fable-lands  of  the  Cumberland  mountains  the  lower  coal 
beds  have  no  effective  roof  over  them,  and  so  we  find  them 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


71 


being  more  and  more  washed  away  until,  in  time,  they  exist 
only  in  terraces  on  top  of  the  conglomerate  table-land,  as  at 
the  Sewannee  mines,  in  Tennessee.  Here  and  there  we  still 
find  patches  of  the  old  Mahoning  sandstone  on  the  moun- 
tain between  Pound  Gap  and  Cumberland  Gap,  and  they 
roof  in  some  magnificent  coal  deposits. 

UPPER  COALS. 

The  inside  of  this  great  trough  of  the  Mahoning  sand- 
stone is  filled  with  the  slates,  shales  and  coal  beds  of  the 
upper  coal  measures.  The  first  coal  above  the  sandstone 
is  a bed  of  five  or  six  feet  thick,  called  in  the  anthracite  re- 
gions the  rough-bedded  coal,  but  west  of  the  mountains 
this  bed  is  split  up  into  two  or  more  beds,  and  frequently 
they  contain  cannel  coal.  Altogether  they  are  not  very 
valuable,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  they  underlie 
Pittsburgh  and  vicinity,  at  a depth  of  seventy  feet  below 
water  level,  and  have  never  been  worked,  nor  do  they  affect 
the  value  of  lands  to  any  extent. 

About  three  hundred  feet  above  these  semi-valueless  beds 
comes  in  the  great  Pittsburgh  bed,  the  king  of  the  upper 
coals.  This  bed  runs  south  from  Pittsburgh  along  the 
Ohio  and  Monongahela  Rivers,  and  is  mined  everywhere  en- 
route.  It  peters  out  among  the  headwaters  of  the  Cheat, 
Monongahela,  Tygart’s  Valley,  and  Little  Kanawha  Rivers, 
in  West  Virginia.  The  petering  out  is  owing  to  the 
presence  of  a great  transverse  axis  of  upheaval  running  east 
and  west  from  Point  Pleasant,  on  the  Ohio  River,  to  the 
backbone  of  the  main  Allegheny  mountain,  near  the 
junction  of  Pendleton  and  Pocahontas  counties.  This 
transverse  axis  is  the  watershed  between  the  rivers  above 
named  and  the  waters  of  the  Greenbrier,  Elk,  Gauley  and 
others,  flowing  into  the  Great  Kanawha  River. 

This  Pittsburgh  bed  is  not  entirely  identified  in  the  valleys 
leading  into  the  Great  Kanawha  River,  but,  undoubted,  areas 
of  it  are  found  in  the  Big  Sandy  and  the  Guyandotte  valleys 
beyond  the  Kanawha,  and  the  better  opinion  is  that  it  is  also 


72 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


in  the  Kanawha  valleys,  and  only  needs  more  study  to 
bring  about  its  complete  recognition. 

This  Pittsburgh  bed  is  known  in  the  anthracite  regions  as 
the  Primrose  Vein,  and  it  is  there  only  seven  to  ten  feet  in 
thickness,  thus  being  the  only  bed  that  does  not  follow  the 
general  example  of  the  rocks  and  thicken  eastwardly. 

There  are  several  coal  seams  in  these  upper  coal  meas- 
ures above  the  Pittsburgh  bed,  but  they  are  not  of  much  im- 
portance. The  condition  of  affairs  on  the  earth  appears  to 
have  begun  to  change  about  this  time.  Local  disturbances 
set  in  and  tossed  the  surface  up  in  one  place,  or  let  it  down 
in  another,  and  the  consequence  was  that  coal  beds  formed 
during  such  times  are  found  to  be  thick  in  one  place  and 
thin  in  others.  Big  pockets  succeeded  by  feather  edges  are 
the  prominent  features ; but  the  big  pockets  are,  nevertheless, 
very  valuable  when  found,  and  it  is  worth  any  man’s  while 
to  look  for  them. 

TRIASSIC  COALS. 

From  the  end  of  the  great  Carboniferous  age  until  the 
Triassic  age  of  the  Mesozoic  time  there  appears  to  have  been 
no  coal-making  business  carried  on  by  the  builders  of  this 
continent,  but  in  Europe  the  Permian  formations  are  coal 
bearing.  In  Europe  also  the  Triassic  coals  are  quite  ex- 
tensive, but  on  this  continent  they  are  insignificant.  We 
mention  them  here  because,  though  so  small  as  to  size,  they 
have  already  been  of  immense  importance  in  that  the  Triassic 
coals  of  the  Richmond  coal  basin  fed  two-thirds  of  the  fires 
in  the  Southern  arsenals  and  iron  works,  and  kept  the  late 
civil  war  going  for  at  least  two  years  longer  than  it  would 
otherwise  have  lasted  The  other  one-tliird  of  the  fires  were 
fed  by  the  sub-conglomerate  coals  of  Alabama  and  Southeast 
Tennessee  and  North  Georgia. 

These  Triassic  coals  are  found  in  beds  in  the  bottoms  of  the 
great  troughs  in  the  primary  rocks,  which  troughs  are  filled  up 
with  the  New  Red  sandstone  and  its  accompanying  shales,  etc. 
For  further  details  regarding  these  sandstones  the  reader 
will  consult  the  chapter  on  Bed  Rocks.  These  coals 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


73 


are  found  in  three  coal  fields,  one  at  or  near  Richmond, 
Virginia,  one  on  Deep  River,  North  Carolina,  and  one  on 
Dan  River,  same  State.  The  latter  is  small,  and  the  coal  is 
sandy  and  the  beds  are  few  and  thin,  so  that  it  will  never 
accomplish  the  old  champion  feat  of  “setting  the  Thames  on 
fire.”  The  Richmond  (sometimes  called  the  Chesterfield) 
and  the  Deep  River  coal  basins  are  both  valuable,  and  contain 
each  four  or  five  seams  of  tolerably  good  bituminous  coal. 

Some  of  the  seams  are  five  to  six  feet  thick,  while  others 
squeeze  down  to  less  than  a foot,  and  they  are  all  inclined  to 
be  irregular  in  thickness. 

The  coal  makes  a light  coke,  which  proved  its  own  value 
in  the  Southern  foundries,  and  the  location  of  the  Rich- 
mond mines  near  tidewater  is  so  advantageous  that  these 
coals  and  cokes  are  used  in  many  of  the  Atlantic  cities. 
They  were  the  first  coal  mines  worked  in  America,  and  they 
were  used  in  Philadelphia  and  other  coast  towns  long  be- 
fore the  Revolution.  One  of  the  mines  is  now  worked  to 
a depth  of  more  than  two  thousand  feet,  and  is  the  deepest 
mine  in  this  country,  except  those  on  the  Comstock  silver 
lode. 

There  are  places  in  the  Richmond  coal  basin  where  a fine 
natural  coke  is  found,  and  its  working  is  found  to  be  profit- 
able. It  is  always  found  in  the  vicinity  of  granite  dykes, 
which  show  all  the  signs  of  having  been  injected  while  very 
hot.  The  coal  has  thus  had  all  its  more  volatile  constituents 
burned  out,  and  the  carbon  has  been  left  as  a porous  coke, 
which  would  probably  have  been  a hard  anthracite  if  it  had 
age  and  pressure  enough  to  compact  it. 

As  stated  in  the  chapter  on  Bed  Rocks,  the  writer  thinks 
he  has  recognized  rocks  of  the  Triassic  age  in  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia,  and  he  advises  people  in  those  States  to 
keep  an  eye  open  for  black  dirt  and  slates  or  shales  with 
fossil  leaves  in  them,  and  other  signs  of  coal  or  coal  rocks. 
Good  coal  beds  in  the  country  between  Augusta  and  Atlanta 
would  be  worth  having ; but  don’t  get  excited  over  the  black 
dirts  and  earthy  lignites  found  east  of  Berzelia,  for  they  are 
not  what  is  wanted. 


74 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


TERTIARY  COALS. 

The  coals  of  this  age  are  the  lignites,  often  called  brown 
coals,  and  wo  have  in  the  western  half  of  this  country  the 
most  important  lignites  of  the  world.  They  are  now  making 
as  fine  iron  and  steel  in  Colorado  as  is  made  anywhere,  and 
their  fuel  is  lignite  and  its  coke.  There  are  qualities,  how- 
ever, about  this  coke  which  render  it  unfit  to  use  in  some 
silver  smelting,  and  eminently  fitted  in  other  silver  smelting, 
and  for  this  reason  Connellsville  coke  is  still  shipped  to  Col- 
orado and  Arizona,  etc.  Tne  writer  is  inclined  to  think  that 
the  peculiar  qualities  referred  to  are  not  in  the  lignite  coke, 
but  rather  in  the  respective  brains  of  the  smelting  masters. 

There  is  a great  difference  to  be  observed  in  the  respect- 
ive modes  of  deposition  of  the  older  coals  and  of  the  newer 
coals  or  lignites.  The  beds  of  the  regular  bituminous  and 
anthracite  coals  are  continuous  over  wide  stretches  of  coun- 
try, some  of  them  being  recognizable  at  distances  several 
hundred  of  miles  apart,  while  the  lignite  beds  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  regions  rarely  contiune  as  much  as  fifty  miles. 

They  appear  to  be  the  result  of  peat  moss  growing  in  and 
filling  up  a large  number  of  isolated  ponds  or  lakes  at  various 
levels,  rather  than  the  growth  of  one  solid  peat  bog  over  one 
vast  area,  as  are  each  of  the  older  beds. 

There  are  points  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  regions  where 
seven  and  eight  beds  of  most  excellent  lignite  are  laid  one 
on  top  of  another  with  thin  layers  of  sandstone,  shales,  etc., 
between  the  coal  beds,  and  on  top  of  all  the  peatmoss  is  still 
green.  These  lignite  beds  are  nearly  always  thick  enough  to 
work  standing  up,  and  the  amount  of  carbon  thus  stored  up 
m that  region  where  it  is  so  much  needed  it  truly  enormous — 
sufficient  for  the  mining  operations  of'  millions  of  years  at 
the  present  rate  of  consumption.  And,  further,  it  is  spread 
out  in  spots  all  over  the  whole  area  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to 
the  plains  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Much  of  it  has  been 
anthracited,  particularly  in  the  Southern  Territories,  and  a 
new  find  is  just  announced  down  on  the  lower  Rio  Grande,  in 
Texas  and  Mexico. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES. 


75 


As  stated  in  the  chapter  on  Bed  Rocks,  the  tertiary  beds 
extend  from  Texas  clear  around  to  New  York.  At  numer- 
ous points  in  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia,  the  Carolinas, 
Virginia  and  Maryland,  an  impure  lignite  is  found.  It  is  in 
one  bed  or  several,  at  different  localities  ; and  near  Berzelia, 
in  Georgia,  one  bed  is  nearly  ready  to  become  compact  and 
resinous,  while  the  rest  are  earthy.  The  general  tendency  is 
for  these  lignites  to  be  worthless  in  the  east,  and  grow  better 
as  they  progress  to  the  west,  until  in  Texas  they  are  worth 
looking  for. 

Some  revenue  steamers  have  recently  supplied  themselves 
with  good  coal  from  sandstone  cliffs  overhanging  the  sea  in 
Alaska,  and  prospectors  are  outfitting  to  begin  mining  there. 
The  character  and  geological  position  of  this  coal  is  as  yet 
unknown,  but  the  reports  show  that  there  is  a likelihood  of 
soon  getting  our  seven  millions  of  money  back  out  of 
Seward’s  purchase  of  that  frozen  land. 


III. 

OIL  AND  GAS. 


Petroleum — Oil  and  Gas  Bearing  Strata,  Oil  and 
Gas  Catching  Strata,  Oil  Breaks,  Oil  and  Gas 
Springs,  Oil  and  Gas  Prospects. — Remarks. 


PETROLEUM. 

This  is  hydro-carbon,  the  two  elements  being  in  such  vary- 
ing proportions  that  no  general  analysis  and  description 
can  be  given.  The  first  thing  to  be  remembered  is  that 
petroleum  means  rock  oil,  and  does  not  mean  coal  oil,  and 
with  this  as  a key  the  geologists  have  unlocked  many  of  the 
so-called  mysteries  of  its  occurrence. 

It  is  found  that  ordinary  hydrous  uncrystalline  limestone 
of  the  secondary  and  tertiary  formations  contains  both  the 
hydrogen  and  the  carbon,  and  that  coal  also  contains  them, 
and  further,  that  the  chemists  have  made  ordinary  petroleum 
out  of  both  limestone  and  coal  in  their  laboratories.  It  is 
also  a fact  that  very  little  oil  has  ever  has  been  found  in  or 
above  the  coal  measures,  or  in  any  district  where  it  is  at  all 
) kely  that  the  true  coal  measures  previously  extended. 

The  petroleum  fields  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  are  all 
in  districts  underlaid  by  the  lower  secondary  rocks,  but  the 
oil  is  not  all  confined,  like  coal,  to  one  certain  group  of 
rocks  like  the  carboniferous  group,  but  it  is  found  in  sev- 
eral groups.  In  Canada  oil  is  found  as  low  down  as  the 
Trenton  limestone  of  the  lower  Silurians,  and  this  is 


OIL  AND  GAS. 


77 


believed  to  be  the  lowest  position  in  which  we  can  hope  to 
find  it,  on  account  of  its  proximity  to  the  metamorphic 
rocks. 

Next  above  the  Trenton,  the  Niagara  limestones  and  shales 
show  the  first  attempt  at  bituminization,  as  found  at  Chicago 
and  elsewhere.  This  rock  will  burn  for  a considerable  time, 
but  does  not  make  an  ash,  and  oil  has  been  made  of  it  by 
boiling  and  skimming  the  oil  off  the  water  surface. 

At  other  points  in  Canada  the  Lower  Helderberg  lime- 
stone seems  to  have  produced  oil,  which  has  lodged  in  the 
Oriskany  sandstone  above  it.  The  Marcellus  shales,  which 
are  bituminous,  appear  to  have  been  charged  with  hydro- 
carbon from  the  Upper  Helderberg  limestone  just  below 
them,  and  they  produce  oil  in  paying,  quantities  at  Canadian 
points.- 

Next  above  these  come  the  Genessee  slates  and  shales, 
which  are  also  bituminous,  and  are  the  principal  sources  of 
gas  supply  for  the  city  of  Erie  and  many  towns  in  that  re- 
gion. The  Chemung  group  of  coarse,  gritty  shales  is  the 
great  basin  or  porous  strata  in  which  the  great  bulk  of  the 
oils  produced  among  the  many  beds  of  limestone  below  ap- 
pear to  have  been  caught  in  their  upward  movement,  and 
have  been  penned  up  for  man’s  use  when  he  should  come  of 
age.  Oil  is  also  found  from  this  Chemung  group  all  the  way 
up  to  the  base  of  the  coal  measures,  but  not  in  paying 
quantities.  In  the  oil  regions  these  different  beds  of  porous 
rocks  are  called,  locally,  the  first,  second,  third  or  fourth 
“sandrock,”  and  so  on. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  great  oil-holding  strata  are  al- 
ways regular  beds,  and  they  are  also  sandstones,  conglomer- 
ates, or  cavernous  limestone.  The  fine-grained  slates  act  as 
roofs  to  the  porous  rocks,  and  the  fine-grained  limestones 
act  in  the  double  capacity  of  roofs  to  catch  the  oil  coming 
up  from  below,  and  as  generators  of  oil  to  be  caught  above. 

The  earth’s  crust  wherever  dug  into  is  found  to  have  a local 
standing  water  level,  and  all  the  porous  or  permeable  rocks 
below  that  level  are  water-soaked  down  to  as  low  a level  as 


78 


OIL  AND  GAS 


man  has  yet  reached.  Oil  generated  in  the  lower  rocks, 
being  lighter  than  water,  works  its  way  upward  until  it  is 
stopped  and  collected  in  the  first  anticlinal  axis  (trough 
turned  upside  down)  of  impervious  rock  it  meets.  It  col- 
lects under  the  crown  of  this  anticlinal  or  arch  and 
saturates  all  the  porous  rock  below  the  impervious  stratum, 
while  the  surplus  water  leaks  out  through  fissures  under  the 
bottom  edges  of  the  trough. 

If  more  and  more  oil  accumulates,  the  line  of  the  oil  bot- 
tom falls  lower  and  lower  until  some  of  the  oil  gets  out 
along  with  the  water  under  the  edge  of  the  trough,  or 
through  some  crack  or  fissure  higher  up,  if  such  there  be. 
This  leaves  all  the  porous  rock  under  the  impervious  arch 
saturated  with  oil  down  to  the  level  of  the  leak.  If  any  of 
the  oil  turns  into  gas  it  collects  at  the  top,  right  under  the 
crown  of  the  arch,  and  it  is  the  first  thing  to  be  struck  by  a 
drill. 

The  fissure  or  leak  level  may  be  thousands  of  feet  below 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  there  may  be  one  or  more 
other  strata  of  impervious  arched  rock  above  the  one  we 
have  been  discussing.  In  this  case,  the  oil  escaping  from 
the  saturated  oil-catcher  below  will  be  caught  again  by  the 
next  arch,  where  it  will  accumulate  and  saturate  all  the 
porous  rock  until  it  establishes  a leak,  starts  again  on  its 
upward  journey,  is  caught  by  another  arch,  saturates  another 
body  of  porous  rock,  finds  a leak,  and  finally  appears  on  the 
surface  as  an  oil  spring.  A drill  hole  sent  down  from  the 
surface  through  these  arches  will  successively  and  success- 
fully tap  these  reservoirs  of  imprisoned  oil  in  the  saturated 
rocks,  and  the  water  pressure  under  them  will  raise  the  oil. 

The  flat,  gently-curved  arches  or  anticlinal  axes  arc  very 
much  more  apt  to  contain  oil  than  the  sharply  curved  ones, 
as  the  latter  nearly  always  are  more  or  less  fractured  at  or 
near  the  crown  of  the  arch,  and  the  oil  has  passed  right 
through  into  the  miscellaneous  strata  above  and  been  dissi- 
pated. These  fractures  at  or  near  the  crown  of  the  arch, 
when  they  are  on  the  surface,  show  up  a lot  of  broken  and 


OIL  AND  GAS. 


79 


tilted  rocks,  more  or  less  porous,  and  saturated  slightly  with 
oil,  which  oozes  out  at  the  bottom  in  oil  springs. 

These  oil  springs  are  always  sluggish,  and  they  arise  from 
the  downward  drainage  of  the  oil,  since  the  upward  hydro- 
static pressure  has  been  relieved  by  the  fracture  of  the  im- 
pervious strata.  These  springs  have  very  little  oil  behind 
them,  and  are  of  use  principally  as  arguments  advanced 
while  selling  the  property  to  more  verdant  operators,  who 
are  apt  to  lose  their  wits  when  they  see  great  cliff-like 
masses  of  oily-smelling  rocks  with  oil  springs  oozing  out  at 
the  base. 

These  broken-backed  anticlinals  are  called  “oil  breaks,” 
and  they  may  be  badly  broken  all  the  way  down  to  the 
deep,  or  they  may  be  only  broken  among  the  upper  arches, 
and  the  lower  ones  may  be  full  of  oil  yet.  Again,  one  end 
of  an  oil  break  may  be  but  slightly  broken,  and  produces  a 
light  volatile  oil,  while  the  other  end,  many  miles  away,  may 
show  fissures  filled  with  asphalt  or  other  mineral  resin  left 
by  the  oil  as  its  lighter  and  more  volatile  portions  evaporated 
long  years  ago,  while  the  middle  portions  of  this  same  oil 
break  may  be  yielding  quantities  of  valuable  heavy  lubri- 
cating oils. 

There  are  as  many  different  aspects  presented  by  oil  dis- 
tricts as  there  are  differences  in  degrees  of  curvature  of 
arches,  and  differences  in  directions  of  streams.  A stream 
system  which  cuts  across  the  axis  of  upheaval  will  present 
an  entirely  different  topography  from  a system  which  cuts 
diagonally,  or  which  runs  lengthwise  with  those  axes,  and 
when  all  three  systems  or  any  two  of  them  are  found  uniting 
with  each  other  to  drain  the  district  the  result  is  a very  com- 
plicated country,  most  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  and 
requiring  intelligent  study  to  prevent  “dry-holing  ” 

The  presence  of  sluggish  oil  springs  is  something  which 
requires  skilled  brains  to  decipher.  These  springs  can  just 
as  well  come  from  valuable  reservoirs  of  oil  below  as  from 
the  simple  drainage  of  semi-saturated  rocks  above,  but  it 
requires  trained  brains  to  find  out  which  case  it  is  that  is 


80 


OIL  AND  GAS. 


presented,  and  square  miles  of  country  may  have  to  be  critic- 
ally examined  before  tlie  underground  structure  can  be 
made  out. 

Another  feature  in  oil  districts,  often  misunderstood  or 
overlooked,  is  that  a country  may  be  to  all  appearances 
entirely  barren  of  oil,  and  with  no  surface  signs  to  be  found, 
and  yet  it  may  be  on  the  back  of  a wide-spreading  under- 
ground arch  so  flat  and  gently  curved  that  no  one  has  noticed 
it.  These  are  found  to  be  the  most  productive  of  all  the 
occurrences  of  oil,  and  the  curvature  is  so  imperceptible  that 
it  requires  the  use  of  instruments  of  precision  to  determine 
it.  These  very  flat  arches  produce  oil  over  wide  strips  of 
territory  along  their  axis,  whereas  the  sharper  arches  only 
produce  it  along  a very  narrow  strip  which  is  hard  to  hit. 

We  don’t  know  the  exact  conditions  under  which  the 
hydrogen  and  carbon  in  the  rocks  unite  to  form  oil,  and  we 
don’t  know  either  how  much  oil  comes  out  of  the  ancient 
bituminous  slates  and  shales ; nor  do  we  know  whether  the 
oil  and  the  bitumen  are  both  the  product  of  ancient  life, 
animal  and  vegetable,  which  has  become  mineralized  like 
coal ; but  the  fact  that  large  quantities  of  very  good  oil  are 
now  extracted  from  rocks  and  beds  of  the  tertiary  formation 
would  seem  to  show  that  no  one  single  source  is  to  be  credited 
with  the  production  of  all  the  oil.  The  oil  found  along  the 
coast  in  California  is  all  from  the  tertiaries,  and  so  is  that 
which  is  now  being  delivered  at  points  on  the  Union  Pacific 
and  Central  Pacific  railways. 

There  are  reasons  for  thinking  that  oil  territory  will  be 
found  along  the  crowns  of  the  lateral  ridges  on  either  side 
of  the  Ozark  Mountain  upheaval,  from  Missouri  down  to 
Central  Texas.  Crowley’s  Ridge,  in  Arkansas,  seems  to 
promise  good  prospects.  The  southwestern  prolongation  of 
the  “Cincinnati  rise”  down  about  the  Muscle  Shoals  of 
the  Tennessee  River,  or  around  the  headwaters  of  Tombig- 
bee  River,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  also  promises  well. 
The  country  to  the  south  of  Chattanooga  contains  oil,  but  it 
is  in  semi-saturated  rocks  with  downward  drainage,  owing  to 


OIL  AND  GAS. 


81 


the  sharpness  of  the  anticlinals  and  the  consequent  fissures 
in  the  crowns  of  the  arches.  Any  wide-spreading,  uncracked 
anticlinals  in  that  country  deserve  attention,  as  the  thickness 
of  the  Devonian  and  Silurian  rocks  there  is  greater  than 
anywhere  else  in  America. 

REMARKS. 

The  great  development  of  natural  gas  in  recent  years  is 
not  a new  discovery  at  all,  for  these  gas  holes  have  been 
found  nearly  everywhere  that  petroleum  has  been  bored  for, 
and  the  gas  is  now  thought  to  be  the  oil  itself  coming  up  in 
the  gaseous  form  under  certain  conditions  of  pressure,  or 
release  from  pressure.  The  gas  mostly  comes  from  the 
Trenton  limestone,  especially  in  Ohio  and  elsewhere  along 
the  “Cincinnati  rise,”  and  those  portions  of  this  Trenton 
limestone  that  have  much  magnesia  replacing  lime  are 
found  to  be  most  productive.  This  Cincinnati  arch  runs 
in  a northeast  and  southwest  direction,  with  a width  of  at 
least  a hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  its  western  edge  is 
marked  by  the  ledge  rocks  forming  the  Ohio  River  Falls  at 
Louisville,  the  Harpeth  Shoals  on  the  Cumberland  River, 
and  the  Muscle  Shoals  on  the  Tennessee  River. 

The  general  history  of  the  natural  gas  development  shows 
that  the  gas  has  high  pressure  at  first,-  and  this  pressure, 
ranging  in  some  cases  up  to  seven  hundred  pounds  to  the 
square  inch,  continues  for  a month  or  more,  then  begins  to 
decline,  slowly  and  finally  gets  down  to  such  a point  that 
the  hole  chokes  up  with  salt  water,  or  goes  dry,  and  the 
industries  depending  upon  it  for  fuel  supply  have  to  either 
get  it  from  another  hole  or  return  to  the  use  of  the  old  reli- 
able coal.  The  great  gas  companies  around  Pittsburgh  hre 
now  testing  processes  for  making  fuel  gas  with  which  to 
replace  natural  gas,  and  thus  to  save  their  heavy  investments 
in  pipe  lines,  with  very  favorable  prospects  of  success,  too. 


IV. 

IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


Iron — Magnetite,  Hematite,  Limonite,  Siderite,Pyrite. 

Manganese — Glance,  Pyrolusite,  Manganite, 
Psilomelane,  Wad,  Rhodocrocite. 

IRON. 

We  all  know  wliat  iron  is,  but  nevertheless  we  will  give 
the  following  description  of  it : 

Gravity.. 7.7  I Iron 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.5  | 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  whitish-gray; 
feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  flexible  to  elastic;  cleavage,  imper- 
fect ; fracture,  uneven,  fibrous ; texture,  massive. 

Pure  iron  shows  almost  no  fibre,  the  fibrous  structure 
being  imparted  to  it  by  its  rolling  and  other  manipulation. 
Until  very  recently  it  has  been  held  that  metallic  iron  is  no- 
where found  on  this  earth  as  an  earthly  product,  but  that  many 
masses  of  metallic  iron  in  the  shape  of  meteors  are  continu- 
ally dropping  in  on  us  from  outer  space.  There  have 
recently,  however,  been  discovered  in  Greenland  some  large 
masses  of  metallic  iron  projecting  from  fresh  surfaces  of 
broken  lava,  but  the  “find”  has  not  yet  been  accurately 
described,  and  we  will  return  to  our  meteoric  iron,  as  the  only 
shape  in  which  metallic  iron  occurs  in  this  world  without  ffie 
intervention  of  man.  This  meteoric  iron  usually  contains 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


83 


some  other  native  metals,  such  as  nickel,  cobalt,  copper,  tin, 
and  occasionally  some  sulphides,  chlorides,  carbon,  and  phos- 
phorous. Some  microscopists  have  thought  that  they  found 
remains  of  life  in  some  of  its  first  forms,  but  this  lias  not 
met  with  successful  verification.  The  principal  ores  of  iron 
are  the  following : 

MAGNETITE. 

This  is  the  black  oxide,  and  its  points  are : 

Gravity 5.1  I Iron . . 72  p.  ct. 

Hardness  6.0  | Oxygen. 28  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  sub-metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  black  to 
dark  brown;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  indis- 
tinct; fracture,  uneven,  sub-conchoidal ; texture,  massive, 
granular,  crystalline. 

This  is  the  magnetic  ore  or  loadstone,  and  appears  to  be 
the  earliest  concentration  of  iron  in  beds  of  its  own  after 
getting  loose  from  the  igneous  or  prime  rocks.  The  iron  in 
these  rocks  is  generally  protoxide,  whereas  the  magnetite  is 
proto-sesqui-oxide  of  iron. 

The  powder  of  this  ore  is  not  entirely  black,  but  is  slightly 
reddish,  and  its  streak  on  a piece  of  hard  black  slate  is  still 
more  reddish.* 

There  is  a variety  of  this  ore  which  contains  titanium, 
replacing  a portion  of  the  iron,  and  the  addition  of  a little 
manganese,  zinc,  and  alumina,  make  it  what  is  called  Frank - 
Unite,,  from  which  a peculiarly  hard  iron  is  made  in  New 
Jersey. 

This  ore  is  mostly  found  among  the  rocks  of  the  primary 
formation,  and  is  in  veins  and  beds,  some  of  which  are  of 
immense  size.  Some  veins  contain  only  magnetite,  and 
others  contain  also  hematite. 

HEMATITE. 

This  is  the  sesqui-oxide  of  iron,  and  is  the  next  step  in  the 
process  of  oxidation  after  the  magnetite.  Its  descriptive  list 
is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.8  | Iron 70  p.  ct. 

Hardness 6.0  J Oxygen 30  p.  ct. 


84 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque  to  sub-translucent; 
color,  rusty  gray;  feel,  harsh;  cleavage,  distinct,  hut  not 
perfect;  elasticity,  brittle;  fracture,  uneven  to  sub-con- 
choidal ; texture,  lamellar,  massive,  granular. 

The  above  description  is  of  the  purest  variety,  the  Specu- 
lar, and  this  is  the  variety  which  is  found  associated  with 
magnetite  in  beds  and  veins.  When  this  ore,  which  to  a 
certain  extent  is  crystalline,  is  washed  down  and  re-deposited, 
it  becomes  earthy  or  chalky  in  texture,  very  red  in  color,  and 
dull  in  lustre,  with  no  cleavage.  All  these  changes  may  take 
place  and  yet  the  ore  may  be  just  as  pure  as  the  original 
specular  ore,  but  the  chances  are  greatly  against  it,  as  it  is 
almost  certain  to  pick  up  impurities  and  carry  them  into  its 
new  bed. 

When  these  impurities  constitute  any  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  whole  bed,  and  are  principally  sandy  clay,  the  ore 
is  called  Ironstone.  When  the  ore  is  very  red  and  finely 
triturated  it  is  called  Ochre  or  Dyestone.  When  it  contains 
many  fossils  it  is  called  fossiliferous.  There  is  also  a variety 
called  Needle  ore,  which  is  very  hard  to  describe,  but  it  looks 
like  many  bunches  of  needles,  and  the  little  fibres  get  into 
your  skin  and  are  very  difficult  to  wash  off.  This  peculiar 
structure  is  found  also  in  limonite,  much  of  which  is  fibrous, 
and  is  also  called  needle  ore. 

Like  magnetite,  this  ore  also  has  a variety  containing  tita- 
nium, and  it  is  called  Titanic  iron  ore,  or  Menaccannite.  It 
also  contains  manganese  and  other  substances,  and  some- 
times the  titanium  about  equals  the  iron  in  amount.  It  is 
rarely  found  except  as  squarish  blocks  of  hard  brown-black 
ore  scattered  around  on  the  surface,  or  in  small  grains  in  the 
beds  of  streams.  The  powder  and  streak  of  titanic  iron  ore 
are  brown-black,  nearly  the  same  as  in  magnetite,  while  the 
powder  and  streak  of  hematite  are  always  a lively  red. 

Hematite  can  be  slightly  magnetic,  and  is  found  in  the 
primary  rocks  with  magnetite  or  by  itself.  Immense  beds  of 
it  are  found  also  among  the  secondary  formations,  especially 
those  below  the  coal  group.  There  are  also  valuable  beds  of 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


85 


it  among  the  Triassic  red  sandstones.  There  are  beds  of  this 
ore  which  are  continuous  over  hundreds  of  miles  of  terri- 
tory, and  can  always  be  found  in  the  same  place  on  the  geo- 
logical column,  and  between  the  same  rocks.  Such  is  the 
fossiliferous  bed  which  forms  the  top  of  Red  Mountain,  in 
Alabama,  and  is  traceable  step  by  step  clear  up  into  Penn- 
sylvania, where  it  is  called  the  dyestone  ore. 

LIMONITE. 

This  is  called  brown  hematite,  and  its  points  are : 

Gravity 3.8  I Hematite 86  p.  ct. 

Hardness 5.2  | Water 14  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic  to  dull;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  dull- 
brown  or  yellowish-red;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle; 
cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  earthy,  mas- 
sive, fibrous,  concretionary. 

Probably  more  iron  is  made  from  this  ore  than  from  any 
other.  It  is  erroneously  called  brown  hematite,  apparently 
because  it  is  not  blood-colored.  It  contains  about  sixty  per 
cent,  of  metallic  iron,  and  its  powder  and  streak  are  always 
yellow.  It  is  found  presenting  a vast  number  of  physical 
features,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  any  iron  ore  which  you 
cannot  distinctly  classify  under  any  other  name  is  a variety 
of  this  limonite. 

This  ore  appears  to  have  been  formed  by  the  precipitation 
of  iron  oxide  and  water  of  hydration  out  of  chemical  solu- 
tions of  other  iron  ores.  The  writer  knows  of  a fissure 
between  limestone  and  sandstone,  which  fissure  is  sixty  to 
seventy  feet  wide,  filled  with  clay,  and  a six  foot  vein  or 
bed  of  pure  limonite  running  through  the  centre  of  the  clay. 
Near  the  outcrop,  where  the  weathering  has  been  greatest, 
the  clay  is  nearly  white  and  the  limonite  vein  is  thickest,  but 
two  hundred  feet  down  from  the  surface  the  vein  is  only 
half  as  thick,  and  the  surrounding  clay  is  very  red  with  dis- 
seminated hematite.  It  would  seem  that  when  this  hematite 
is  reached  by  the  rain  waters  and  other  influences  it  is  dis- 


86 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


solved  (as  in  the  case  of  chalybeate  springs)  and  concen- 
trated at  the  middle  line  of  the  clay  by  attraction  of  the 
particles  of  iron  for  each  other. 

As  might  be  expected,  this  dissolving  and  precipitating 
process  results  in  a variety  of  composition,  and  many  impuri- 
ties creep  in.  Anything  that  the  solution  comes  in  contact 
with,  and  that  it  can  dissolve,  is  sure  to  get  entangled  and 
deposited  with  the  limonite,  and  thus  it  happens  that  nearly 
all  limonite  found  in  bogs  and  marshy  places  contains  more 
or  less  of  the  phosphorus  which  is  always  to  be  found 
among  decaying  matters. 

There  are  also  degrees  of  hydration  among  limonites,  and 
as  the  water  of  hydration  must  be  roasted  out  of  the  ore  the 
amount  of  the  water  is  a consideration  of  some  importance. 
The  ore  Gothite  is  an  incomplete  limonite,  and  contains  only 
ten  per  cent,  of  water  to  ninety  per  cent,  of  hematite,  and 
its  powder  and  streak  are  more  reddish-yellow  than  the  pure 
yellow  of  the  limonite.  The  ore  Turgite  is  another  incom- 
plete limonite,  and  contains  only  five  per  cent,  of  water  to 
ninety-five  per  cent,  of  hematite,  and  its  powder  and  streak 
are  nearly  as  pure  red  as  those  of  hematite. 

Limonite  is  found  almost  entirely  among  the  secondary  and 
later  formations,  but  it  is  to  be  looked  for  everywhere,  as  it 
is  the  most  universally  distributed  of  all  the  iron  ores.  All 
three  varieties  are  often  to  be  found  in  the  same  bed,  but  the 
full-watered  limonite  is  more  abundant  than  gothite  or 
turgite. 

SIDERITE. 

This  ore  is  also  called  Ghalybite , Hone  ore,  Spathic  ore,  Clay 
ironstone , Carbonate  of  iron , and  sometimes  the  richer  ores  are 
called  Black  Band  ore.  Its  descriptive  list  is  about  as  fol- 
lows : 

Gravity ...» 3.8  I Iron  oxide G3  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.0  | Carbonic  acid 38  p,  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  dull;  clearness,  opaque  to  translucent; 
color,  white-gray,  light  brown  ; feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle; 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


87 


cleavage,  perfect  to  imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture, 
granular. 

This  description  allows  of  a deal  of  latitude,  but  that  is 
because  the  ore  itself  occurs  in  many  conditions.  In  its 
most  common  form  it  looks  like  a roundish  mass  of  gray 
limestone,  very  fine  grained,  and  which  shows  a concre- 
tionary structure  inside.  Sometimes  these  masses  will  show 
brownish  layers  on  the  outside  with  gray  or  white  materials 
inside,  and  sometimes  the  brown  will  be  inside  and  the  gray 
outside.  Another  form  of  siderite  is  the  crystalline,  and 
this  is  so  very  translucent  that  you  can  almost  see  through  it. 

Very  few  iron  carbonates  assay  up  to  more  than  forty  per 
cent,  of  metallic  iron,  and  the  most  of  them  range  from 
thirty  to  thirty-three  per  cent.,  but,  nevertheless,  they  are 
very  valuable,  as  they  contain  few  deleterious  impurities, 
and  smelt  more  readily  and  economically  than  any  other 
ore,  owing  to  the  carbon  in  them.  When  very  low  in  phos- 
phorus they  are  also  used  by  the  best  ironmasters  to  mix  in 
with  the  richer  ores,  so  as  to  reduce  the  percentage  of  the 
phosphorus  and  other  deleterious  impurities  of  the  richer 
oxide  ores,  as  well  as  to  facilitate  smelting. 

The  celebrated  “Black  Band”  ore,  from  which  the  “Scotch 
Pig”  is  produced,  is  siderite,  and  so  are  the  iron  “Carbon- 
ates” of  the  silver  mines  near  Leadville  and  elsewhere  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  ore  is  found  in  all  the  forma- 
tions, but  it  is  most  plentiful  in  the  Carboniferous  beds, 
where  it  occurs  in  regular  strata  intercalated  between  slates 
and  shales  and  in  coal  beds.  It  is  always  mixed  with  more 
or  less  sand  or  clay,  and  sometimes  it  is  not  easily  recog- 
nized even  as  a cla}r  ironstone,  although  in  this  shape  it  is  the 
great  ore  of  England. 

There  is  a sort  of  auxiliary  ore  of  this  variety  which  is 
called  Ankerite.  This  ore  is  a mixture  of  thirty  per  cent,  of 
siderite  with  twenty  per  cent,  of  magnesite  and  fifty  per 
cent,  of  calcite,  and  a good  body  of  it  is  valuable,  as  it  car- 
ries not  only  its  own  flux,  but  also  enough  more  to  flux 
twice  its  own  weight  of  the  richer  oxide  ores.  It  is  wanted 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


by  the  ironmasters  for  mixing,  and  can  be  distinguished 
from  ordinary  limestone  by  the  fact  that  it  is  more  like 
marble  in  appearance,  is  ten  per  cent,  heavier  than  marble, 
and  will  cut  marble.  The  crystalline  transparent  siderite  is 
the  purest  form  of  all  these  carbonate  ores,  but  it  is  too  rare 
to  be  wasted  as  a mere  iron  ore  when  it  is  so  valued  as  a 
cabinet  specimen. 

PYRITE. 

There  are  two  iron  pyrites,  or  rather  iron  sulphides,  and 
there  are  also  two  more  sulphides  in  which  iron  is  a consid- 
erable ingredient.  Their  descriptions  are  as  follows : 

The  common  iron  pyrite  contains — 

Gravity 5.0  I Iron 47  p.  ct. 

Hardness 6.3  | Sulphur 53  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  brassy-yellow ; 
feel,  harsh  to  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  conchoidal,  uneven ; texture,  cubic,  granular. 

There  is  a whiter  variety  of  this  ore  which  is  called  Mar- 
casite,  and  which  is  slightly  lighter  in  weight,  but  the  differ" 
ences  are  not  great. 

The  ore  Pyrrhotite , which  is  commonly  called  Magnetic 
Pyrites , is  the  richest  in  iron.  It  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.5  I Iron... 60  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.0  | Sulphur 40  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  deep  yellow  to 
reddish-yellow;  feel,  harsh  to  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle; 
cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular. 

The  streak  of  this  ore  is  dark  gray,  and  it  is  magnetic.  It 
is  a little  lighter  in  weight  and  much  softer  than  pyrite,  but 
it  cannot  be  cut  with  a knife. 

Mispickel  is  Arsenopyrite,  or  arsenical  pyrites,  also  called 
Mundic , and  its  points  are : 


Gravity.. 

Hardness. 

Iron 


6.2 

6.0 

,34  p.  ct. 


Arsenic. 

Sulphur 


.46  p.  ct. 
,20  p.  ct. 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


89 


Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  grayish-white ; 
feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  not  perfect ; frac- 
ture, uneven ; texture,  granular. 

This  ore  is  found  among  the  primary  rocks  in  veins  along 
with  the  sulphide  ores  and  compounds.  The  miners  call  it 
mundic,  but,  as  they  also  apply  the  same  name  to  other  sul- 
phides, it  is  not  of  much  significance  as  a name. 

The  other  sulphide  containing  much  iron  in  its  constitu- 
tion is  Ghalcopyrite , which  is  described  as  one  of  the  copper 
ores. 

The  upper  parts  of  sulphide  veins  are  usually  oxidized  into 
limonitic  gossan  above  the  water  level,  and  these  gossans 
are  often  valuable  and  pure  iron  ores. 

It  was  true  that  a few  years  ago  these  sulphide  ores  were 
not  used  or  counted  as  iron  ores,  but  things  are  changing 
rapidly,  and  now,  over  in  Spain  and  in  England,  they  are 
first  burning  out  part  of  the  sulphur  and  making  sulphuric 
acid  of  it,  and  they  are  next  leaching  the  remainder  of 
the  sulphur  together  with  the  copper  and  part  of  the  iron, 
and  either  making  vitriols  of  them  or  are  precipitating  the 
copper  in  the  metallic  state.  This  leaching  takes  out  all  the 
sulphur,  which  mere  burning  could  not  do,  and  so  the  iron  is 
left  as  an  oxide  of  great  purity. 

REMARKS. 

The  great  magnetite  and  hematite  deposits  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior are  the  choice  ores  of  America,  and  they  are  corre- 
spondingly high  in  price,  while  the  slates,  especially  the 
Damourite  slates  of  the  Potsdam  group,  furnish  the  cheap 
brown  limonite  ores  from  which  the  great  bulk  of  ordinary 
foundry  and  mill  irons  are  made.  The  Alabama  ores,  now  so 
prominent,  are  found  in  all  the  formations  from  the  Potsdam 
up  through  the  Clinton  to  the  Devonian  groups,  and  this  is 
the  case  in  North  Georgia,  East  Tennessee,  and  Southwest 
Virginia. 


90 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


MANGANESE. 

This  metal  oxidizes  so  rapidly  that  it  is  never  found  native. 
Its  description  is : 

Gravity 8.0  I Manganese 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness,  about 3.0 

Lustre,  mild  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  grayish- 
white;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imperfect; 
fracture,  hackly;  texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

It  looks  very  much  like  white  cast  iron,  and  is  used  in 
making  Speigeleisen,  Ferro- Manganese,  and  for  hardening 
other  metals  with  which  it  is  alloyed.  It  will  not  strike  fire 
itself,  but  will  cause  its  alloys  with  softer  metals  to  do  so. 

MANGANESE  GLANCE. 

This  is  sulphide  of  manganese,  and  is  very  scarce ; but  as 
it  is  the  source  of  all  the  other  ores  we  will  describe  it : 

Gravity 5.0  I Manganese 63  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.0  Sulphur 37  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  greenish-black ; 
feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  granular,  cubic. 

PYROLUSITE. 

This  is  the  peroxide  of  manganese,  and  is  the  first  deriva- 
tive from  the  sulphide.  It  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.8  I Manganese 63  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.3  Oxygen 37  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  grayish  or 
bluish-black;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  not 
perfect;  fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  massive. 

This  ore  appears  to  be  a clear  case  of  the  substitution  of 
oxygen  for  the  sulphur  in  the  sulphide  ore.  The  pyrolusite 
and  the  manganite  ore  next  mentioned  are  both  called  per- 
oxide of  manganese  by  the  market,  and  they  both  sell  in 
New  York  for  about  seventeen  dollars  per  ton.  They  are 
used  for  bleaching  and  many  other  purposes  in  which  oxygen 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


91 


is  needed,  as  they  give  it  off  at  much  lower  heats  than  most 
other  available  minerals. 


MANGANITE. 

This  is  simply  pyrolusite,  with  a little  water  of  hydration 
mixed  in.  Its  points  are  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.3  I Manganese  Oxide 90  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.0  | Water 10  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  sub-metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  steel  gray 
to  brown;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  uneven;  texture,  fibrous,  columnar. 

The  addition  of  a little  water  makes  this  one-half  harder 
than  the  pyrolusite,  but  such  things  will  happen.  Besides, 
the  manganese  oxide  in  this  ore  is  not  exactly  the  same  as 
the  pyrolusite,  there  being  a small  difference  in  the  propor- 
tions of  the  manganese  and  the  oxygen. 

PSILOMELANE. 


This  is  a sure-enough  mixture,  and  its  points  are : 


Gravity 3.8  to  4.5 

Hardness '.  — 5.0  to  6.0 

Manganese  Oxide 76  p.  ct. 


Oxygen  15  p.  ct. 

Potash 5 p.  ct. 

Water  and  Sundries...  4 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  sub-metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  brown 
black;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imperfect; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive  to  earthy. 

This  ore  is  harder  yet  than  the  other  oxides,  but  it  is  often 
earthy,  or  rather  disintegrated  and  very  soft. 


WAD. 

This  is  a mixture  of  the  three  foregoing  oxides,  together 
with  any  dirt  which  may  happen  to  get  in.  It  is  nearly 
always  in  the  earthy  condition  and  sometimes  very  light  in 
weight.  The  copper  miners  often  mistake  it  for  black  oxide 
of  copper,  and  swear  accordingly.  It  ,fs  apt  to  be  in  bogs 
and  moist  places,  and  varies  so  much  m different  parts  of  the 
same  deposit  that  we  will  not  attempt  a description. 


92 


IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES. 


RH.ODOCROCITE. 

This  is  carbonate  of  manganese  or  manganese  spar,  and 
its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 3.6  I Manganese  Oxide 62  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.6  | Carbonic  Acid 38  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  gray,  red, 
yellow,  brown ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  per- 
fect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  ore  is  not  so  plentiful  as  the  oxides,  but  it  occurs 
along  with  them  and  is  derived  from  them.  They  all  occur 
in  veins  and  beds  among  nearly  all  the  formations  but 
mostly  in  the  secondary  formation. 

REMARKS. 

Manganese  ores  and  limonite  iron  ores  are  very  apt  to  be 
found  together,  and  the  upper  slates  of  the  Potsdam  group 
furnish  the  great  bulk  of  manganese  mined  in  this  country. 
The  Shenandoah  Valley  manganeses,  notably  the  Crimora 
deposits,  are  in  this  group. 


V. 

GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


Gold — Vein  Gold,  in  Pyrites,  in  Quartz,  in  Tellu- 
rium— Wash  Gold,  in  Slate,  in  Sand,  in  Gravel,  in 
Clay,  in  SeaWater  — Gold  Saving  — Gold  Testing. 
Silver — Silver.  Ores  : Silver  Glance,  Horn  Silver, 
Ruby  Silver,  Stephanite,  Antimonial  Silver,  Miar- 
GYRITE,  PoLYBASITE,  ACANTHITE,  STROMEYERITE,  FrIES- 

lebenite — Silver  Saving — Silver  Testing. 


GOLD. 

The  descriptive  list  of  this  most  interesting  substance 
reads  about  as  follows : 

Gravity 19.3  I Gold... 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.5  | Value 100  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  royal  gold 
yellow.  All  pure’  gold  is  the  same  lordly  color,  and  varia- 
tions are  always  due  to  impurities ; feel,  very  smooth  and 
comforting;  elasticity,  flexible,  malleable,  ductile  in  the 
highest  degree;  cleavage,  none;  fracture,  wiry;  texture, 
massive. 

Gold  is  about  as  universally  distributed  throughout  the 
crust  of  the  earth  as  any  other  metal,  and  it  would  be  very 
difficult  to  find  a whole  formation  entirely  barren  of  it.  But 
yet,  somehow,  we  can  find  so  very  little  of  it  in  any  one 
place  that  the  work  of  gathering  it  together  is  very  apt 


94 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES* 


to  cost  more  than  the  gold  is  worth.  Nevertheless,  although 
it  comes  high,  we  must  have  it,  for  it  has  those  peculiarities 
which  render  it  a fitting  standard  of  measurement  for  every- 
thing else  in  this  world  of  finance,  in  that  it  combines  more 
of  the  factors  which  produce  unchangeableness  in  value  than 
any  other  substance  known  to  us.  These  factors  are : 

1.  The  greatest  resistance  to  loss  by  chemical  changes,  in 
that  it  does  not  oxidize  or  tarnish,  and  it  alloys  most  per- 
fectly with  other  harder  metals  which  protect  it  from  loss  by 
abrasion. 

2.  Most  unmistakable  physical  characteristics  to  guard 
against  counterfeiting.  It  is  the  only  yellow  native  metal. 
Other  yellow  metals  can  be  made  by  man  by  alloying  red  and 
white  metals,  but  they  cannot  be  made  so  heavy  as  gold,  and 
they  can  all  be  touched  and  eaten  by  simple  acids,  whereas 
gold  can  only  be  touched  by  compound  acids,  such  as  aqua 
regia  (nitro-liydrochloric  acid). 

3.  Sufficient  and  reliable,  but  not  excessive  supplies  of  the 
metal. 

4.  Excessive  cost  of  production  to  secure  the  locking  up 
of  large  amounts  of  labor  value  in  small  coin  packages,  thus 
insuring  high  intrinsic  value. 

As  regards  this  latter  qualification,  it  seems  that  its 
intrinsic  value  very  largely  exceeds  its  nominal  value,  for  it 
is  now  quite  well  determined  that  all  the  gold  produced  in 
this  country  in  any  one  year  amounts,  in  face  value,  to  only 
about  one-fifth  the  value  of  the  labor  and  supplies  of  all 
kinds  expended  in  the  gold  industry  that  same  year.  The 
prizes  are  few  but  they  are  big,  very  big,  and  the  losses 
are  so  many,  but  so  small  and  so  well  distributed  among  a 
class  of  men  who  don’t  care  a continental  anyhow,  that  we 
adventurous  humans  go  on  carelessly  putting  down  five  dol- 
lars and  taking  up  one,  having  four  dollars’  worth  of  fun  for 
change,  and  hoping  that  our  turn  will  come  next. 

We  work  for  our  food  and  clothing  in  this  world,  although 
some  of  us  do  have  terrapin  and  canvas-backs  for  food  and 
clothe  ourselves  in  brown-stone  front  houses.  In  temperate 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


95 


climates  we  are  apt  to  overwork  ourselves  and  produce  a 
surplus  which  some  of  us  expend  in  fattening  kings,  lords, 
politicians,  star-route  contractors,  big  standing  armies  and 
other  absorbents ; while  others  of  us  store  the  surplus  up  in 
various  forms  of  wealth  more  or  less  subject  to  destruction, 
taxes  and  changes  in  value.  This  wealth  or  capital  is  always 
changing  in  value  up  or  down,  and  in  order  to  measure  these 
changes  we  must  have  a substance  as  nearly  free  from 
change  as  possible  to  use  as  a recognized  standard.  This 
desideratum  we  find  in  gold,  and  as  we  must  have  it  we  pay 
in  labor  and  supplies  (the  product  of  other  labor)  five  times 
as  much  for  the  gold  as  the  gold  will  buy  back  again,  thus 
locking  up  irrevocably  five  values  in  one. 

VEIN  GOLD. 

Although  gold  is  distributed  among  all  rocks  and  forma- 
tions, its  derivation  from  some  earliest  matrix  is  certain. 
Of  course  it  came  down  originally  out  of  the  condensing 
gases  along  with  all  other  terrestrial  substances,  but  there 
are  reasons  for  thinking  that  the  golden  rain  was  one  of  the 
earlier  incidents  of  world  building,  and  that  it  was  subse- 
quently covered  up  by  the  deposits  of  lighter  substances  on 
top.  In  fact,  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  gold  may  be 
one  of  the  metals  which  are  supposed  to  constitute  the 
central  core  of  the  globe,  and  which  make  the  whole  mass 
of  the  globe  of  a specific  gravity  of  5.2,  while  that  of  the 
crust  of  rocks,  etc.,  is  only  about  2.6  on  an  average.  This 
fact  alone  proves  a great  concentration  of  heavy  substances 
at  the  centre  of  the  globe ; and  as  gold  is  so  heavy  in  its 
metallic  condition,  and  so  energetically  resists  combination 
with  other  high  fire-proof  substances  which  would  lighten 
it,  there  is  strong  probability  that  gold  is  an  important  con- 
stituent of  this  heavy  core. 

Down  among  the  bottom  rocks  of  the  primaries  in  the 
gneisses  and  granites  we  first  find  gold,  and  we  find  it  asso- 
ciated with  Pyrites  or  sulphide  ores  of  iion,  copper,  silver 
and  other  metals.  These  sulphides  are  in  veins,  mostly  true 
fissure  veins,  which  open  downwards  into  the  great 


96 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


unknown,  and  show  all  the  marks  of  having  been  filled  with 
the  pyritous  ores  by  the  injection  from  below  of  melted  sub 
stance  and  its  subsequent  cooling  and  crystallization. 

These  fissures  down  in  the  lowest  known  formations  and 
igneous  rocks  are  generally  filled  from  wall  to  wall  with 
pyritous  ores,  but  when  we  get  up  among  the  Huronian  and 
lower  Silurian  rocks  we  find  that  great  quantities  of  quartz 
are  intermixed  with  the  pyrites,  and  indeed  the  fissures  are 
sometimes  filled  with  quartz  from  wall  to  wall.  Often  the 
quartz  and  pyrites  are  in  sheets  or  layers,  alternating,  accom- 
panied by  barytes,  calcite,  and  other  common  gangue  rock  of 
veins. 

It  is  an  observed  fact  that  the  gold  in  the  sulphides  of  the 
lower  veins  is  infinitesimally  small  in  grain,  while  that  found 
up  among  the  quartz  is  larger,  and  ‘can  even  sometimes  be 
seen  in  the  quartz  by  the  unaided  eye.  That  in  sulphides  is 
so  fine  that  very  many  particles  are  required  to  be  gotten 
together  to  make  a speck  or  “ color.” 

No  man  likes  to  say  straight  out  that  there  is  a natural 
gold  sulphide,  yet  many  claim  that  these  invisible  particles 
are  really  atomic,  just  freed  from  combination  with  sulphur, 
and  become  visible  when  aggregating  into  molecules  of  gold. 
Others  claim  that  the  gold  is  in  flakes,  or  rather  films  of 
infinite  thinness  intercalated  between  the  little  cubical  crys- 
tals of  pyritous  ores,  as  are  the  mortars  and  cements  in  the 
j oints  of  brickwork  or  masonry.  Others  hold  that  each  particle 
of  gold  is  enveloped  in  a block  or  crystal  of  pyrites,  and  is 
freed  mechanically  by  the  crushing  of  this  crystal,  or  chemi- 
cally by  the  oxidation  of  the  pyrites  in  open-air  weathering 
or  in  furnace  treatment.  Still  another  idea  is  that  as  gold  in 
Nature  is  always  alloyed  with  a little  silver,  copper  or  other 
metal,  the  sulphur  lays  hold  of  such  other  metal  and  forms  a 
film  of  sulphide  ore  around  the  gold  without  actually  com- 
bining with  the  gold  itself.  When  this  sulphide  film  is  oxi- 
dized it  becomes  a film  of  oxide  ore,  and  is  then  called 
“ rusty  ’ gold  by  the  maledictating  miners,  who  can’t  make 
their  mercury  lay  hold  of  it. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


97 


In  veins  containing  much  quartz  the  gold  is  found  in  both 
the  quartz  and  the  pyrites,  but  that  in  the  quartz  is  gener- 
ally much  larger  in  grain  than  that  in  the  pyrites,  although 
they  may  be  in  the  closest  proximity.  Why  this  is  thus,  and 
how  the  gold  traveled  from  the  pyrites  into  the  hard  body 
of  the  quartz,  are  questions  not  yet  answered  satisfactorily. 
Then,  again,  the  quartz  will  contain  numerous  little  sharp- 
cornered  cavities  which  formerly  contained  crystals  of  sul- 
phides which  have  become  oxidized  naturally,  and  the 
cavities  now  contain  the  brown  iron  oxide  dust  and  the 
minute  particles  of  gold  which  have  been  released  by  the 
oxidation. 

Gold  is  also  found  in  veins  of  pure  quartz  with  no  admix- 
ture of  sulphides,  and  no  signs  of  there  having  ever  been 
any  there.  In  these  cases  the  gold  is  all  free  gold,  and  apt 
to  be  in  grains  round  in  shape  and  large  enough  to  be  seen 
in  the  quartz  with  the  naked  eye,  although  very  large 
fortunes  have  been  made  out  of  veins  of  this  class  in  which 
the  gold  was  invisible  until  the  particles  were  concentrated. 
Some  hold  that  the  gold  got  into  these  quartz  veins  by  pre- 
cipitation from  some  chlorine  or  other  chemical  solution 
included  in  the  silicious  mother-liquor  out  of  which  the 
quartz  was  crystallized.  Others,  that  the  gold  was  washed 
out  of  an  igneous  vein  and  washed  into  the  open  top  of  the 
quartz  vein ; and  still  others  assert  that  the  gold  was  origin- 
ally disseminated  throughout  the  mass  of  the  country  rock, 
and  was  drawn  into  the  fissure  in  some  chlorine  solution 
right  through  the  wall  rock  by  some  sort  of  electricity. 

It  is  well  to  reflect  that,  perhaps,  all  the  theories  may  be 
be  right,  some  in  one  place,  others  in  other  places,  and  some 
cases  may  be  the  result  of  all  acting  together,  reinforced  by 
others  not  yet  stated;  and  the  best  we  can  do  is  to  say, 
Quien  sabe  ? 

The  pyrites  of  the  coal  measures  rarely  contain  gold,  nor  ■* 
those  of  the  tertiaries,  but  as  a general  proposition  all  others 
do  in  greater  or  less  quantity.  Those  ores  having  a fine 
grain  are  the  most  auriferous,  while  those  having  large, 
whitish  crystals,  very  hard,  are  least  auriferous. 


98 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


The  quartz  intermixed  in  pyritic  veins  is  vitreous  quartz, 
and  is  nearly  always  auriferous,  while  vitreous  quartz  in  a 
vein  all  to  itself  is  rarely  so.  A quartz  which  has  a granular, 
sugary  appearance  is  frequently  auriferous;  and  massive, 
milky-looking  quartz  is  rarely  good  for  much. 

Sometimes  a sulphide  and  quartz  vein  is  found  in  which 
the  sulphides  have  oxidized  into  a brown  iron  ore  all  the 
way  down  to  the  water  level  of  the  locality,  and  down  to 
that  level  it  pays  to  work  it,  as  the  gold  is  free  from  sulphur, 
but  below  that  level  the  sulphides  are  hard  and  close,  and 
the  money  made  out  of  the  upper  levels  goes  back  again 
into  the  mine  in  the  lower  levels,  unless  the  workers  have 
been  sagacious  enough  to  unload  the  property  at  the  right 
time  and  give  others  a chance. 

There  is  a true  gold  ore  which  sometimes  is  found  and 
worked,  but  no  one  knows  of  any  money  that  has  ever  been 
made  out  of  it.  It  is  called  Syhanite , and  is  a Gold  Tdluride , 
as  follows : 

Gravity 8.2  Silver 16  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.8  Tellurium 56  p.  ct. 

Gold 28  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  white  to  brass 
yellow;  feel,  rough;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  uneven;  texture,  granular  to  massive. 

This  is  vein  gold ; but,  although  some  good-sized  veins  of 
it  are  known,  the  stuff  is  so  brittle  that  it  breaks  finer  than 
sand,  and  cannot  be  washed  out.  . 

WASH  GOLD. 

When  a hill  traversed  by  an  auriferous  vein  is  cut  into  and 
washed  down  by  water,  the  materials  of  which  it  is  built  are 
spread  out  on  the  adjoining  lower  lands,  and  the  vein  gold 
thus  carried  away  and  deposited  in  strange  places  is  called 
wash  gold,  or  alluvial  gold,  or  placer  gold.  A majority  of 
the  gold  now  in  possession  of  man  has  thus  been  washed 
into  piles  by  natural  causes.  We  humans  were  very  much 
more  apt  to  pick  up  gold  in  river  beds  and  gravel  or  clay 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


99 


banks  than  to  drill  out  the  hard  rocks  to  get  it,  especially  in 
the  earlier  days  of  the  race,  when  we  had  not  invented  blast- 
ing powder,  dynamite  and  other  little  conveniences.  Now 
that  we  are  older  and  are  training  up  experts  in  mining  as 
well  as  in  medicine,  etc.,  the  percentage  of  total  gold  product 
credited  to  regular  mining  is  much  greater  than  that  from 
washing  and  re-wasliing  Mother  Nature’s  piles  of  tailings. 

It  is  evident  that,  from  the  time  when  the  water  first  came 
down  on  the  naked  rock  of  the  globe  all  the  way  to  the 
present,  there  has  been  no  period  in  which  vein  matter  was 
not  liable  to  be  washed  down  and  deposited  elsewhere,  and 
we  must  accordingly  expect  to  find  wash  gold  in  any  or  all 
the  formations  down  to  the  lowest  point  known.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  gold  in  Georgia  is  found  dissemi- 
nated in  minute  particles  throughout  the  whole  mass  of 
great  formations  of  stratified  slate  rocks.  Those  slates  are 
the  micaceous,  the  talcose,  the  chlorite  and  the  clay  slates  of 
the  primaries.  These  slates  are  more  or  less  gold-bearing 
over  whole  counties,  and  are  sedimentary  rocks,  beyond  all 
question,  formed  of  the  debris  from  the  washing  down  of 
other  rocks  containing  gold  or  gold  veins.  In  other  words, 
they  are  simply  “placers”  of  the  ancient  days  which  have 
lain  so  long  undisturbed  that  they  have  compacted  into  hard 
slates.  The  gold  mines  now  worked  in  Brazil  are  of  this 
nature  and  age  of  formation,  and  much  of  the  Australian 
gold  is  similarly  placed.  Nearly  all  of  the  above-named 
slates  along  the  Atlantic  slope  are  auriferous,  and  in  many 
other  localities  than  those  in  Georgia  they  can  be  profitably 
worked. 

On  the  coast  of  California  there  are  great  hills  of  alluvial 
formation  forming  clay  bluffs  with  narrow  sandy  beaches. 
Every  time  a storm  blows  up  such  a sea  as  to  wash  up 
against  the  base  of  the  bluffs  the  waves  undermine  portions 
of  the  bluff  and  wash  the  materials  down  upon  the  beach 
and  out  to  sea.  There  is  a little  gold  disseminated  through- 
out the  mass  of  these  bluffs,  probably  a couple  of  cents’ 
worth  to  a cubic  yard,  and  while  the  waves  wash  out  the 


100 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


clay  and  lighter  portions  the  gold  particles  are  dropped 
along  the  immediate  shore,  where  they  are  collected  by  men 
who  are  not  looking  for  big  profits. 

Among  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  on  the  Cali- 
fornia side,  the  streams  which  head  in  the  Sierras  all  run 
westerly  to  the  San  Joaquin  and  the  Sacramento,  and  they 
have  cut  out  deep  gorges  in  their  passages  through  the  foot- 
hills. These  gorges  cut  across  and  reveal  in  cross  section 
the  gravel  bottom  of  an  immense  ancient  river  which  ran 
north  and  south  high  up  among  the  tops  of  these  foothills. 
The  great  river  is  no  longer  there,  the  water  having  been 
turned  in  some  other  direction  by  some  upheaval,  but  the 
valley  is  filled  up  hundreds  of  feet  deep  by  gravels,  clays, 
etc.,  which  in  many  places  are  roofed  over  by  a great  cap  of 
lava,  also  hundreds  of  feet  thick.  Along  the  edges  of  the 
banks  of  gravel,  forming  the  bed  of  the  river,  are  found  the 
remains  of  a race  of  creatures  who  used  fire  and  made 
pottery,  and  otherwise  behaved  like  men ; and  among  the 
gravel  itself  is  found  the  greatest  quantity  of  gold  that  Cali- 
fornia has  yet  produced.  The  whole  formation  is  called  the 
Blue  Lead,  and  the  gold  in  the  gravel  is  wash  gold,  derived 
from  some  gold  region  which  has  not  yet  been  discovered. 

Here  in  front  of  us  is  a plane  hillside  with  moderate  slope. 
Up  near  the  top  is  a mass  of  auriferous  quartz,  but  those 
other  fellows  don’t  know  it,  as  it  is  covered  by  earth.  It  is 
the  end  of  a vein,  which  has  been  there  so  long  that  a large 
chunk  of  it  has  been  weathered  and  washed  down  the  hill- 
side. We  fill  a pan  with  earth  and  gravel,  etc.,  dug 
down  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  and  take  it  to  the  nearest 
stream,  where  we  wash  it,  until  we  find  a little  sand  and 
just  a color  of  gold  left  in  the  lower  edge.  We  repeat  this 
at  points  ten  feet  apart  along  the  base  of  the  hill,  working 
each  way  until  we  cease  to  find  a color  in  the  pan.  The 
distance  along  the  base  of  the  hill  between  the  two  points 
wdiere  we  cease  to  find  color  is  the  base  of  a triangle,  and 
the  apex  is  the  spot  where  we  will  find  the  end  of  the  vein, 
if  we  go  to  the  middle  of  the  base,  and  then  work  straight 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


101 


up  the  hillside,  panning  the  earth  as  we  go,  until  we  cease 
to  find  color  in  that  direction  also.  Dig  into  the  hill  at  that 
point  and  find  the  ledge,  and  remember  that  from  that  spot 
down  to  the  base  of  the  hill  the  wash  gold  spreads  out  like 
a fan.  If  the  hill  slope  is  not  plane,  but  rather  convex,  the 
base  of  the  triangle  will  be  longer  and  the  wash  gold  will  be 
spread  over  a bigger  fan ; but  if  the  face  of  the  hill  is  con- 
cave the  wash  gold  will  be  mostly  confined  to  a narrow 
streak,  and,  therefore,  more  easily  collected. 

When  the  hill  slope  is  so  very  concave  as  to  amount  really 
to  a valley  or  gulch,  the  wash  gold  will  be  found  always  in 
the  bottom  of  the  gulch,  and  at  those  points  where  little 
catch-basins  are  naturally  formed.  As  a general  proposi- 
tion, the  finer  the  particles  of  gold  the  further  down  will 
they  be  washed,  so  that  the  prospector  may  always  count  on 
finding  something  better  up  the  hill  when  he  gets  very  small 
colors  in  his  pan. 

The  Potsdam  sandstone,  the  great  plate  forming  the  base 
of  the  secondary  formation,  and  forming  the  cap  rock  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  also  exposed  in  much  less  thickness  on 
Lake  Superior  and  on  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, has  from  two  to  ten  cents’  worth  of  gold  disseminated 
throughout  every  cubic  yard  of  it  that  lias  yet  been  thor- 
oughly examined. 

The  brick  clays  along  the  Atlantic  coast  are  all  more  or 
less  auriferous,  and  it  is  estimated  that  there  is  more  gold  in 
the  clay  under  the  city  of  Philadelphia  than  would  pay  for 
the  rebuilding  of  the  city,  but  nevertheless  the  clay  is  worth 
more  for  bricks  than  for  gold  ore. 

The  water  of  the  sea  is  found  to  contain  a grain  of  gold 
to’  every  ton  of  water,  but  that  gold  is  most  irrevocably 
locked  up,  although  it  is  estimated  to  be  greater  in  quantity 
than  all  the  gold  now  in  use.  It  is  in  the  shape  of  gold 
chloride,  and  its  existence  in  this  condition  induced  a wise 
man  of  the  West  to  “fix”  a spring  in  California  with  some 
buried  gold  chloride,  and  then  reproduced  the  gold  in  the 
presence  of  sundry  victims,  who  bought  some  of  his  watered 


102 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


bonanza  stock  on  the  strength  of  it.  They  couldn’t  doubt 
their  own  eyesight,  you  know,  and  they  have  the  stock  yet 
as  a permanent  investment  in  experience,  while  the  wise  man 
has  the  money. 

GOLD  SAVING. 

To  get  the  scattered  gold  particles  concentrated  into  one 
place,  so  as  to  possess  them,  is  one  of  the  great  industrial 
problems  of  this  day  and  generation,  and  several  thousand 
patents  on  inventions  for  gold  saving  have  been  issued  by 
the  American  Patent  Office.  Some  of  these  inventions  have 
been  good,  some  very  bad,  and  most  of  them  merely  indif- 
ferent. Those  that  have  been  good  have  been  based  on  a 
close  imitation  of  natural  processes. 

Nature  uses  water  to  cut  down  and  spread  out  the  hill 
containing  the  sulphide  vein,  and  then  lets  the  air  act  on  the 
exposed  sulphides  for  long  periods,  and  they  become  oxi- 
dized, thus  freeing  the  gold  particles.  Man  does  the  same 
thing  by  digging  out  the  sulphides,  roasting  them  with 
access  of  air  at  high  heat  to  drive  off  the  sulphur,  oxidize 
the  ores,  and  set  free  the  gold  particles.  Nature  takes  plenty 
of  time  to  do  her  work,  and  she  is  not  very  short-lived,  while 
man  has  but  seventy  years  to  live,  and  he  must  realize  on  his 
investment  before  he  steps  down  and  out. 

Nature  turns  on  her  water  again  after  having  freed  her 
gold,  and  by  some  mysterious  process  she  aggregates  her 
small  particles  into  larger  ones,  and  washes  them  down 
grade,  concentrating  them  as  they  go  at  every  little  crevice 
or  resting  place,  and  driving  the  sands  and  impurities  out  of 
them  and  on  down  out  of  the  way,  so  that  man  can  come 
along  afterwards  and  dig  out  the  gold  particles  from  their 
lodging  places.  Man  pulverizes  his  oxidized  sulphides,  and, 
using  water,  he  washes  the  ores  down  long  sluices  with 
riffles  on  their  bottoms  to  imitate  the  crevices  that  were  used 
by  Nature  to  stop  her  gold,  while  the  sands  and  other  im- 
purities were  swept  on  down  stream. 

In  general  terms,  the  above  two  steps,  viz. : the  pulveriza- 
tion and  oxidation  to  free  the  gold  from  attached  impurities, 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


103 


and  the  washing  and  concentration  to  free  the  gold  irom 
intermixed  impurities  are  the  necessary  two  steps  in  all  pro- 
cesses of  gold  saving,  but  many  additional  small  steps  have 
been  invented  which  facilitate  matters.  The  chief  of  these 
is  i:i  the  lugging  in  of  mercury,  which  assists  in  two  ways  in 
separating  the  gold  from  its  associate  minerals.  Mercury  is 
a fluid  and  has  a specific  gravity  of  13.6  commonly,  but  when 
entirely  pure  is  14.  Now  gold  at  a gravity  of  19.3  will 
promptly  sink  in  a bath  of  mercury,  while  iron  oxides  rang- 
ing in  gravity  from  3.4  to  5,  or  quartz  or  any  other  substance 
lighter  than  mercury  will  float  on  the  surface  of  the  bath. 
By  stirring  the  auriferous  sands  around  on  the  surface  of  the 
bath  in  such  a way  as  to  bring  all  the  gold  particles  to  the 
surface  they  will  drop  out  of  the  sand  and  sink  in  the 
mercury. 

The  other  way  in  which  mercury  assists  in  separating  the 
gold  is  by  amalgamating  with  it  and  forming  a new  com- 
pound metal.  A gold  coin  put  in  a bath  of  mercury  will 
disappear  very  quickly,  first  by  sinking  and  next  by  amal- 
gamation, and  the  gold  can  be  recovered  again  by  straining 
the  mercury  through  a piece  of  chamois  skin  and  then  burn- 
ing off  the  remaining  mercury,  leaving  the  gold  in  a fine, 
brown  powder.  This  powder,  mixed  with  some  saltpetre 
and  melted  in  a ladle,  will  leave  a gold  button  containing  all 
the  gold. 

In  order  to  utilize  mercury  in  this  latter  way  the  surface 
of  the  gold  particles  in  the  sand  must  be  bright  and  clean  of 
all  greasy  matters  and  rust.  Metal  must  touch  metal,  or 
they  will  not  amalgamate.  The  gold  released  from  sul- 
phides by  natural  slo^y  oxidation  is  bright  and  clean,  but 
that  released  by  roasting  is  nearly  always  coated  with  a film 
of  iron  oxide,  due  to  the  rapidity  of  oxidation,  and  this  film 
has  to  be  broken  up  before  the  contact  of  metal  to  metal  for 
amalgamation  can  be  obtained.  This  is  done  to  a large 
extent  by  grinding  the  pulverized  ore  in  big  pans  having 
mullers  working  in  them,  and  having  mercury  mixed  in 
with  the  ore.  The  grinding  polishes  the  gold  and  the  mer- 


104 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


cury  immediately  lays  hold  of  it,  thus  loading  down  each 
particle  so  that  it  can  he  more  easily  captured  in  the  subse- 
quent washing,  concentrating  and  settling  processes. 

In  the  formation  of  vein  matter  by  means  of  chloride 
solutions  of  gold  man  finds  another  of  Nature’s  processes 
worthy  of  imitation,  but  he  imitates  it  backward  by  satu- 
rating the  crushed  ore  with  water  and  then  forcing  chlorine 
gas  into  it.  This  gas  dissolves  the  gold,  and  the  solution 
comes  out  of  the  tub  as  an  amber-colored  fluid  and  the  gold, 
in  form  of  a rusty  powder,  is  precipitated  out  of  the  fluid  by 
pouring  in  a solution  of  sulphate  of  iron. 

Man  also  imitates  Nature  again,  and  most  successfully, 
too,  by  washing  down  whole  hills  by  means  of  water.  The 
Blue  Lead  of  California  was  worked  on  a very  small  scale 
for  some  years  by  tunneling  in  on  the  gravel  bed ; but  some 
men  brought  a hose  pipe  full  of  high-pressure  water  from 
a neighboring  waterfall,  and  found  that  the  water  would 
undermine,  cut  down,  and  wash  into  the  sluices  more  ma- 
terials in  one  day  than  the  same  men  could  do  with  pick  and 
shovel  in  a month.  In  a very  short  time  the  picks  and 
shovels  were  all  at  work,  for  a hundred  miles  up  and  down 
the  Lead,  digging  ditches  and  canals  to  bring  the  waters  of 
the  mountain  streams  and  lakes  down  to  the  mines,  and  the 
new  method  was  everywhere  adopted.  Sluices  miles  in 
length,  eight  and  ten  feet  wide,  with  riffles,  filled  with  mer- 
cury, every  few  feet  of  length,  became  the  order  of  the  day, 
and  the  farmers  in  the  low  lands  began  to  complain  about 
the  silt  and  sand  covering  their  farms  and  ruining  them,  and 
the  laws  now  prohibit  this  method  almost  entirely,  and  it 
can  only  be  used  in  cases  where  the  miners  buy  up  all  the 
land  which  can  be  affected  by  their  operations. 

Some  valleys  were  so  filled  up  that  the  miners  who  were 
driven  away  from  the  old  river  bars  by  the  filling  up  have 
again  resumed  work  on  the  same  bars,  gaining  access  to 
them  by  sinking  shafts  down  through  fifty  to  a hundred  feet 
of  filled  up  sand,  and  then  drifting  from  the  shaft  bottoms 
out  over  the  old  gravel  beds  in  various  directions. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


105 


There  are  differences  of  opinion  among  mining  men  con- 
cerning the  advantages  or  disadvantages  of  dry  washing, 
so-called,  but  there  are  large  tracts  of  placer  ground  so 
situated  that  water  cannot  be  obtained,  and  dry  separation 
must  be  resorted  to  or  the  work  abandoned. 

A blast  of  air,  whether  natural  or  artificial,  is  a great 
thing  in  such  districts.  A space  is  laid  out,  beaten  down 
hard,  and  the  auriferous  sands,  well  dried,  are  tossed  up  into 
the  air,  where  the  wind  blows  away  the  particles  of  lighter 
specific  gravity  and  the  heavier  ones  drop  on  the  prepared 
floor.  Several  sweepings  up  and  re-tossing  finally  result  in 
a very  fair  concentration. 

These  dry  placers  as  well  as  pulverized  vein ’stuff  have 
been  successfully  worked  by  raking  the  sands  over  the  top 
of  a broad  and  shallow  mercury  bath,  and  the  gold  sepa- 
rated from  the  sands,  whether  rusty  or  not,  by  sinking  into 
the  bath  while  the  sands  were  passed  over  the  sides  when  thus 
“washed.5’  If  there  was  a liquid  of  about  6 or  7 specific 
gravity  it  would  be  a most  valuable  medium  for  this  dry 
washing,  as  the  gold  would  sink  into  it  so  much  more 
rapidly  than  into  mercury,  while  all  ordinary  refuse,  even 
including  black  iron-sand,  would  still  float  on  the  surface. 

GOLD  TESTING. 

The  only  absolute  test  for  determining  the  presence  of 
gold  is  by  dissolving  the  specimen  of  rock  or  sand  or  other 
suspected  substance  in  nitro-hydrochloric  acid  (aqua  regia), 
and  then  pouring  into  the  clear  solution  some  dissolved 
sulphate  of  iron  (copperas).  This  will  precipitate  to  the 
bottom,  in  the  form  of  a reddish-brown  powder,  any  gold 
that  may  be  in  the  solution.  Rub  this  brown  powder  with 
the  blade  of  a knife  and  it  will  come  out  in  true  gold  colors. 
If  you  have  weighed  the  specimen,  then  you  can  weigh  the 
gold  and  ascertain  the  percentage  of  value  in  the  ore.  Aqua 
regia  is  made  up  of  two  parts  hydrochloric  (muriatic)  acid 
and  one  part  of  nitric  acid,  and  it  is  the  only  acid  which  will 
dissolve  gold.  Gold  melts  at  about  2,600  degrees. 


106 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


A usual  method  to  ascertain  practically  the  value  of 
pyrites  is  to  pulverize  a weighed  specimen  to  about  the  size 
of  fine  sand,  then  roast  it  at  a red  heat  (not  too  hot)  until 
no  more  sulphur  fumes  arise,  then  pulverize  it  again  to  as 
fine  a grain  as  you  can  get  it  with  a hammering  and  Tubbing 
motion,  then  wash  off  all  the  lighter  stuff  by  panning,  then 
put  it  in  a china  cup  with  a half  teaspoonful  of  mercury  and 
mix  it  for  half  an  hour  with  a wooden  stick,  then  wash  off 
everything  except  the  mercury,  then  put  the  cup  on  a shovel 
and  heat  it  carefully  over  a fire  until  all  the  mercury  is 
driven  off  in  fumes,  and  the  reddish-brown  powder  left  in 
in  the  cup  is  about  all  the  gold  there  was  in  the  specimen. 

Quartz  specimens  can  be  treated  in  the  same  way.  The 
roasting  of  quartz  and  suddenly  dropping  it  hot  into  cold 
water  is  good  for  it. 


SILVER. 

This  is  another  interesting  substance,  but  not  quite  so 
interesting  as  gold.  Its  descriptive  list,  like  that  of  all  good 
things,  is  short,  as  follows : 

Gravity 10.5  I Silver...^ 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.6  | 

Lustre,  brilliantly  metallic;  clearness,  opaque  in  mass,  but 
can  be  made  so  thin  as  to  be  translucent;  color,  silver  white; 
feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  malleable,  with  tendency  to  elastic; 
cleavage,  none ; fracture,  uneven,  and  draws  down  into  wire 
before  breaking;  texture,  massive,  but  sometimes  in  crystal- 
line forms. 

Silver  is  not  quite  so  well  fitted  for  coinage  purposes  as 
gold.  It  is  readily  acted  on  by  nitric  acid  and  tardily  by 
other  simple  acids.  Our  wives  know  how  quickly  it 
blackens  when  used  in  eggs,  and  what  trouble  salt  gives 
them,  and  how  much  renovating  silver  requires  after  having 
been  packed  up  any  length  of  time.  The  sulphur  in  the 
eggs  forms  an  important  silver  ore  (the  sulphide  of  silver) 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


107 


with  the  outer  surface  of  the  silver,  and  rubbing  it  off  takes 
away  just  so  much  silver  each  time.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  packed-up  silver,  the  tarnish  being  produced  by  the 
small  amount  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  which  is  always 
present  in  the  air.  The  tarnish  from  salt  is  the  chloride  of 
silver,  and  reduces  the  weight  of  the  silver  as  much  as  the 
sulphide  does  at  every  fresh  polishing. 

Silver  is  easily  imitated  by  making  up  alloys  of  other  less 
precious  metals.  The  weight  of  silver  is  little  more  than 
half  that  of  gold,  and  there  are  many  metals  that  can  be 
brought  together  to  counterfeit  it  in  weight  and  appear- 
ance. It  is  also  considered  that,  with  the  opening  up  of  the 
old  silver  districts  of  Mexico  and  Peru  to  the  introduction 
of  American  miners  and  mining  processes  and  speculators, 
the  supply  of  silver  will  become  excessive  in  the  near  future. 

For  these  and  other  reasons  gold  is  the  standard  among 
nearly  all  people  of  Teutonic  parentage,  including  the 
Germans,  British  and  United  Statesians,  and  we  (number- 
ing one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  people,  doing  three- 
fourths  of  all  business  done  in  the  world,)  insist  on  measuring, 
buying,  and  selling  silver  according  to  a gold  standard,  not 
gold  by  a silver  standard. 

We  use  silver  for  money  metal  in  all  those  cases  where 
gold  coin  would  be  so  small  as  to  be  easily  lost,  but  there  is 
still  a point  left  which  is  not  fully  provided  for.  This  point 
is  the  interval  between  fifty  cents  and  five  dollars  of  Ameri- 
can money.  A gold  coin  below  five  dollars  in  size  is  too 
easily  lost,  and  a silver  coin  above  fifty  cents  in  size  is  exces- 
sively inconvenient  on  account  of  its  bulk.  To  fill  in  this 
interval  an  alloy  to  be  called  “goloid”  has  been  proposed, 
which  shall  be  of  gold  and  silver  in  stated  proportions,  so 
arranged  as  to  make  the  one,  two,  and  three  dollar  coins  of 
sizes  convenient  but  different  from  any  other  coin.  At 
present  this  gap  is  covered  by  Treasury  notes  and  by  clumsy 
silver  dollars,  affectionately  called  stove  lids,  which  no  one 
wants  to  carry  around,  and  which  contain  only  about  seventy 
cents'  worth  of  silver,  counted  at  present  market  prices. 


108 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


The  Treasury  Department  has  recently  put  out  a scheme 
for  buying  silver  at  current  market  quotations  and  paying 
for  it  in  certificates  calling  for  as  many  dollars  as  the  silver 
is  worth  that  day,  these  certificates  to  be  paid  in  silver  at 
market  quotations  on  the  day  of  presentation  or  in  gold  at 
the  Treasury  option.  This  scheme  has  been  sneered  at  as 
being  the  same  thing  as  the  well-known  pig-iron  warrants 
scheme  applied  to  silver,  but  it  is  really  very  different,  for 
the  iron  warrant  is  paid  in  so  many  tons  of  pig  iron,  regard- 
less of  market  price,  while  the  silver  certificate  calls  for  so 
many  dollars’  worth  of  silver  at  the  market  price. 

A very  large  and  increasing  business  is  done  in  this  coun- 
try through  the  mails,  and  much  of  this  is  paid  for  by 
remitting  one  and  two  dollar  bills  enclosed  in  ordinary  letter 
envelopes,  not  even  registered,  for  the  thief  rarely  gets  time 
to  go  through  any  but  the  registered  mail.  And  this  retail 
business,  so  long  as  one  and  two  dollar  silver  certificates  are 
issued,  will  continue  to  grow,  and  this  book  which  you  are 
reading  will  continue  to  circulate  and  do  good,  but  all  this 
will  stop  when  we  have  nothing  less  than  five  dollars  except 
silver  coinage. 

Silver  is  the  favorite  money  standard  among  the  Chinese 
and  neighboring  peoples,  and  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 
these  Asiatics  absorb  every  year  about  forty  million  ounces 
of  silver  it  is  tolerably  clear  that  the  price  of  silver  would 
drop  to  a much  lower  level  than  it  now  occupies,  and  in  the 
near  future,  too.  Let  us  hope  that  the  gentry  with  the  yel- 
low exteriors  may  continue  in  the  same  frame  of  mind  for 
ages  to  come,  and  even  increase  their  demands  for  the  white 
metal,  for  they  are  now  the  chief  consumers  of  an  important 
American  product,  and  one,  too,  which,  by  the  nature  of 
things,  we  cannot  protect  against  competition  by  a tariff. 

Native  silver  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  silver  ore  districts, 
but  it  don’t  amount  to  much  in  any  district,  except  Lake 
Superior.  It  is  nearly  always  found  intermixed  with  silver 
ores,  and  is  the  result  of  some  sort  of  natural  smelting,  or 
of  a decomposition  process.  It  is  found  in  grains  in  the 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


109 


massive  native  copper  of  Lake  Superior ; and  in  tlie  Silver 
Islet  mine  it  is  the  chief  product  of  value.  Silver  Islet  is 
a little  rocky  peak,  sticking  up  out  of  the  water  a mile  or  so 
from  the  north  shore  of  the  lake,  and  is  about  sixty  or 
seventy  feet  square.  This  little  patch  is  a high  point  in 
a submerged  dyke  of  diorite  rock,  and  is  cut  by  a vein 
fissure  filled  with  carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia  as  the 
gangue  rock.  Sulphide  ores  of  zinc,  copper,  nickel,  cobalt 
and  silver  are  scattered  through  the  gangue,  and  native 
silver  in  sheets,  strings  and  nuggets  is  found  as  well  as  the 
ores.  Tlie  little  island  was  enlarged  by  coffer-dams,  etc., 
and  the  mining  is  now  down  a thousand  feet  or  more,  and 
over  three  million  dollars’  worth  of  profits  are  said  to  have 
been  made.  This  is  about  the  only  place  where  native  silver 
amounts  to  enough  to  make  it  the  main  object,  and  this  has 
now  been  worked  out,  after  a large  amount  of  profits  have 
been  put  back  into  the  hole.  There  are  many  rumors  coming 
out  of  the  woods  on  the  north  shore  of  discoveries  of  silver 
and  gold,  and  every  Spring  sees  its  lot  of 'cheerful  prospectors 
going  into  the  wilderness,  and  every  Winter  sees  them  coining 
out  again  to  work  for  a living. 

SILVER  ORES. 

About  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  all  the  silver  in  use  has 
been  reduced  from  the  various  ores  of  silver,  of  which  there 
are  four  chief  ones.  These  ores  are  never  found  absolutely 
free  from  admixture  with  ores  of  other  metals,  and  their 
general  condition  is  just  the  opposite.  The  following  four 
chief  ores  are  the  important  ones,  the  others  being  of  com- 
paratively rare  occurrence  except  in  laboratories  and  mineral 
cabinets : 

SILVER  GLANCE. 

Argentite  is  the  christened  name  of  this  ore,  and  the  family 

name  is  Silver  Sulphide.  Its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

* 

Gravity 7.2  to  7 .4  1 Silver 87  p.  ct. 

Hardness  ...2.0  to  2.4  Sulphur 13  p.  ct. 


110 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  dark  gray; 
feel,  rough ; elasticity,  somewhat  malleable ; cleavage,  none ; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  small  granular. 

This  is  the  richest  possible  ore  of  silver,  but  it  has  a sad 
habit  of  getting  itself  mixed  up  with  sulphides  of  other 
metals.  Mixed  with  galena  it  makes  what  is  called  silver 
lead  ores.  Mixed  with  black  jack  it  is  in  its  worst  condi- 
tion, for  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  get  the  zinc  out  of  it. 
This  ore  and  the  double  sulphide  of  silver  and  antimony, 
called  stephanite,  are  the  big  ores  of  the  Comstock  lode, 
the  greatest  depository  of  silver  yet  discovered. 

HORN  SILVER 

This  ore  is  scientifically  called  Cerargyrite,  and  is  silver 
chloride,  just  as  silver  glance  is  silver  sulphide.  Its  descrip- 
tion is  as  below : 

Gravity 5.4  to  5.6  1 Silver 75  p.  ct. 

Hardness — 1.0  to  1.4  j Chlorine 25  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  resinous ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color^ 
gray  to  greenish-gray ; feel,  smoothish ; elasticity,  sectile  to 
brittle;  cleavage,  none;  fracture,  small  granular;  texture, 
massive. 

When  long  exposed  to  the  weather  this  ore  turns  black, 
or  purplish-brown.  When  freshly  cut  it  looks  much  like 
wax  or  translucent  horn,  when  pure,  but  when  impure  it 
resembles  old  dried  putty.  This  is  the  great  ore  of  the 
Leadville  and  other  carbonate  silver-mining  regions.  The 
carbonates  which  we  all  hear  so  much  about  are  carbonates 
of  lead  and  iron,  and  the  silver  chloride  is  mechanically 
intermixed  with  the  carbonates  of  the  other  metals.  These 
ores  may  be  very  rich  in  silver,  and  yet  may  look  like  so 
much  sand — reddish,  yellowish,  or  any  other  sandy  color — 
and  be  passed  over  day  after  day  without  arousing  curiosity. 
They  have  no  sign  of  metallic  lustre,  and  the  only  sus- 
picious feature  about  them  is  their  extra  weight.  These  are 
called  sand  carbonates. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


Ill 


Another  Leadville  ore  is  the  hard  carbonate,  which  has  to 
be  mined  and  often  blasted  to  loosen  it.  It  has  a decided 
metallic  appearance,  looking  much  like  iron  ore,  and  it  con- 
tains sometimes  many  hundred  dollars’  worth  of  silver 
chlorides  per  ton.  The  chloride  is  so  finely  intermixed  with 
the  carbonate  as  to  be  indistinguishable  in  many  cases. 

While  silver  sulphides  are  mostly  found  in  true  fissure 
veins,  the  chlorides  are  found  not  only  in  veins,  but  in  beds 
between  other  rocks  and  in  pockets.  The  Leadville  deposits 
are  generally  situated  on  the  line  of  contact  between  a lime- 
stone and  a sheet  of  porphyritic  trap  rock.  Sometimes  the 
carbonate  and  chloride  bed  or  sheet  will  be  fifty  feet  in 
thickness,  and  in  a hundred  feet  distance  it  will  shut  down 
until  nothing  but  a sheet  or  film  of  rust  will  separate  the 
lime  and  trap  rocks.  The  keys  to  unlock  all  the  mysteries  of 
these  peculiar  formations  have  not  been  found  yet,  but  good 
progress  is  being  made. 

In  the  Silver  Cliff  district  of  Colorado  there  is  an  immense 
overflow  or  sheet  of  trachytic  trap,  which  rock  is  impreg- 
nated throughout  with  silver  chloride,  and  they  just  quarry 
the  trachyte  and  send  it  to  mill.  They  don’t  succeed 
well,  as  the  silver  only  runs  from  six  to  fifteen  dollars  per 
ton,  and  they  have  not  yet  invented  suitable  milling  pro- 
cesses to  work  such  low-grade  ores.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  a 
richer  carbonate  ore  will  be  discovered  in  the  neighborhood, 
so  that  the  chlorides  and  carbonates  can  be  mixed,  and  thus 
make  up  a good  smelting  ore. 

There  are  fissure  veins  in  that  same  vicinity  which  are 
filled  with  a gangue  composed  of  pebbles  and  boulders  of 
various  kinds  of  rock,  all  cemented  together  by  silver 
chloride,  and  there  are  others,  where  the  fissure  is  filled  with 
slabs,  blocks  and  gravels,  cemented  in  the  same  way  with 
horn  silver. 

The  great  Horn  Silver  mine,  in  Utah,  is  believed  to  be  a 
fissure  vein,  and  is  filled  with  all  sorts  of  materials  contain- 
ing silver  chloride  intermixed  throughout.  In  Arizona,  the 
two  ores,  sulphides  and  chlorides,  appear  frequently  in  the 


112 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES 


same  vein,  the  sulphides  getting  richer  with  depth  and  the 
chlorides  poorer,  and  the  third  great  ore,  ruby  silver,  is  fre- 
quently found  mixed  in  with  them. 

RUBY  SILVER. 

This  ore  is  also  called  Pyrargyrite,  but  we  are  not  expected 
to  use  this  name  until  it  has  been  passed  through  the  jaws 
of  Blake’s  crusher  a time  or  two.  Its  points  are  as  follows: 

Gravity 5.6  to  6.0  Sulphur 18  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.1  to  2.4  Antimony 22  p.  ct. 

Silver 60  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic-vitreous;  clearness,  opaque  to  translu- 
cent; color,  red  to  black;  feel,  smoothish ; elasticity,  brittle; 
cleavage,  between  perfect  and  imperfect;  fracture,  conch- 
oidal  to  uneven ; texture,  massive-crystalline.  There  is 
another  variety,  called  Proustite , which  is  of  a lighter  red  in 
color,  more  transparent,  not  so  plentiful,  and  contains 
arsenic  instead  of  antimony. 

These  ruby  ores  constitute  large  portions  of  the  total 
product  of  some  localities,  but  they  are  never  found  as  the 
only  silver  ore  present. 

STEPHANITE. 

This  is  very  similar  in  composition  to  the  ruby  silver  ores, 
but  is  dissimilar  in  appearance.  Its  descriptive  list  is  as 
below : , 

Gravity. 6.1  to  6.3  1 Sulphur. 16  p.  ct. 

Hardness  2.0 to  2.5  i Antimony 16  p.  ct. 

Silver 68  p.  ct.  I 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  black ; feel, 
harsh ; elasticity,  brittle  to  slightly  sectile ; cleavage,  none ; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular  to  massive. 

This  ore  and  the  sulphide  make  up  the  main  body  of  the 
silver  ores  of  the  Comstock  lode,  and  this  ore  is  found 
almost  everywhere  that  silver  is  produced.  It  has  the  same 
ugly  habit  of  associating  with  the  zinc  ores  that  the  silver 
glance  has,  and  it  is  even  more  difficult  to  corral  the  zinc  and 
expel  the  silver,  or  corral  the  silver  and  expel  the  zinc,  than 
in  case  of  the  straight  silver  sulphide. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


113 


ANTIMONIAL  SILVER. 


The  description  of  this  ore  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 9.8  I Silver 78  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.8  Antimony 22  p.  ct, 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  white;  feel, 
rough;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  distinct;  fracture,  un- 
even; texture,  granular. 

Dysclasite  is  its  other  name,  and  it  is  not  abundant,  so  far 
as  known. 

MIARGYRITE. 


This  is  another  silver  ore,  and  its  points  are : 

Gravity 5.3  Antimony 42  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.3  Sulphur 21  p.  ct. 

Silver 37  p.  et. 

p 


Lustre,  sub-metallic ; clearness,  opaque  to  sub-translu- 
cent ; color,  black  reddish ; feel,  rough ; elasticity,  brittle ; 
cleavage,  imperfect;  fracture,  uneven  to  sub-conchoidal; 
texture,  tabular. 

This  is  not  an  abundant  ore,  and  there  is  a variety  of  it 
called  Hy par gy rite. 

POLYBASITE. 

This  is  another  sulphide  of  silver  and  antimony,  and  its 
descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 6.2  Antimony 10  p.  ct. 

Hardness * 2.5  Sulphur 15  p.  ct. 

Silver 75  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  black;  feel, 
rough;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imperfect;  fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  tabular,  foliated  to  massive. 


ACANTHITE. 

This  is  a silver  sulphide,  and  its  points  are : 

Silver 87  p.  ct. 

Sulphur 13  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  black ; feel, 
rough;  elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile;  cleavage,  imperfect; 
fracture,  uneven;  texture,  tabular. 


Gravity 7.2 

Hardness 2.4 


114 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


STROMEYERITE. 

This  is  another  case  of  silver  sulphide,  and  its  descriptive 
list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 6.2  Copper  31  p.  ct. 

Hardness.... 2.8  Sulphur 16  p.  ct. 

Silver 53  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  dark  gray; 
feel,  rough;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imperfect;  fracture, 
conchoidal;  texture,  massive. 

The  copper  in  this  ore  is  enough  to  more  than  pay  ex- 
penses, leaving  the  silver  as  profit. 


FREISLEBENITE. 


The  German  who  named  this  ore  hass  not  yet  announced 
its  pronunciation,  but  its  points  are : 


Gravity  6.2 

Hardness 2.3 

Silver 24  p.  ct. 


Lead 30  p.  ct. 

Antimony 27  p.  ct. 

Sulphur 19  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque  to  translucent;  color, 
grayish-white;  elasticity,  sectile  to  brittle;  cleavage,  per- 
fect; fracture,  sub-conchoidal ; texture,  massive  to  tabular. 

The  last  six  ores  are  not  known  to  be  abundant,  but  are 
described,  as  they  may  yet  be  found  abundantly. 


SILVER  SAVING. 

The  extraction  of  metallic  silver  from  its  ores  is  a com- 
plicated process  chemically,  but  yet  there  are  cases  where 
the  manipulation  part  of  it  is  very  simple.  The  first  Ameri- 
can process  was  that  carried  on  by  the  aid  of  the  Washoe 
pan,  and  was  invented  by  the  Comstockers,  who  wished  to 
substitute  cheap  rotary  motion  for  more  expensive  longi- 
tudinal sluice  work.  The  silver  sulphides  are  first  stamped 
to  the  requisite  fineness,  then  put  into  the  big  Washoe  pens 
and  ground  still  finer  in  water  heated  by  steam,  then  quick- 
silver is  put  into  the  pans,  the  grinders  raised,  but  stirring 
motion  continued,  until  the  silver  has  all  been  amalgamated 
by  tho  mercury,  after  which  the  muddy  liquid  amalgam  and 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  ORES. 


115 


all  is  transferred  into  settling  vats,  diluted  with  clear  water, 
and  afterwards  washed  like  gold  amalgam,  and  the  mercury 
retorted,  leaving  the  silver. 

An  improvement  on  this  simple  process  was  the  dosing 
the  pulp  in  the  pans  with  sulphate  of  copper,  which 
assisted  in  decomposing  the  silver  sulphides.  Roasting  the 
ores  with  a percentage  of  salt  chloridized  the  silver  and 
drove  out  the  sulphur;  and  many  other  chemical  substances 
have  been  experimented  with  and  produced  result  of  more 
or  less  value. 

One  very  quiet  little  plan  of  extracting  silver  is  to  leach 
silver  chlorite  (or  roasted  and  chloridized  silver  sulphides) 
with  salt  brine ; and  silver  sulphate  (produced  by  roasting 
and  oxidizing  sulphide  ores)  can  be  leached  by  means  of 
water  acidulated  with  sulphuric  acid.  Strips  of  metallic 
copper  will  precipitate  the  metallic  silver  out  of  either  the 
brine  or  acidulated  water  solutions. 

The  chloride  ores  can  be  treated  by  the  leaching  process 
also,  but  as  they  are  usually  mixed  with  carbonates  of  other 
metals,  and  these  other  metals  will  sometimes  pay  for  the 
whole  cost  of  extraction,  the  smelting  process  is  the  favorite 
in  the  chloride  mines.  The  neatest  smelting  in  the  countty 
is  done  at  Leadville. 

SILVER  TESTING. 

To  test  a piece  of  lead  ore  for  silver,  dissolve  it  in  nitric 
acid  and  drop  in  a piece  of  copper,  when  the  silver  will  drop 
to  the  bottom  if  there  is  any  silver.  A little  salt  water 
dropped  in  instead  of  the  copper  will  curdle  up  into  white 
clouds  in  the  acid. 

To  test  copper  ore  for  silver,  dissolve  the  ore  in  nitric 
acid,  and  add  some  drops  of  muriatic  acid,  when  a white 
precipitate  will  appear  on  the  bottom  if  there  is  any  silver 
in  the  ore. 

The  silver  sulphides  and  chlorides  can  be  detected  by 
powdering  them  and  roasting  them  with  a little  salt.  Then 
put  in  mercury  and  amalgamate ; wash  and  retort  as  in  the 
case  of  gold. 


VI 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


Copper — Chalcopyrite,  Enargite,  Tetrahedrite,  Ciial- 
cocite,  Bornite,  Melaconite,  Cuprite,  Chryso- 
colla.  Tin  — Tinstone,  Stannite. 


COPPER. 

Copper  is  mostly  derived  from  its  ores,  but  the  Lake  Su- 
perior copper  region  furnishes  great  quantities  of  native 
copper.  Its  points  are : 

Gravity.- 8.8  I Copper 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness, 2.8 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  red;  feel, 
smooth  ; elasticity,  flexible,  malleable ; cleavage,  none ; frac- 
ture, uneven,  ragged;  texture,  massive. 

Native  copper  is  also  found  sparingly  among  the  rocks  of 
the  Triassic  group  with  the  New  Red  sandstone,  in  the 
Atlantic  States.  A few  localities  are  also  reported  in  the 
Territories.  All  native  copper  is  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  some  of  its  ores,  by  some  process  of  natural  smelting 
or  solution  and  precipitation.  The  native  copper  of  Lake 
Superior  is  found  in  veins  filled  with  quartz,  spar,  and  epi- 
dote,  and  other  gangue  rock,  which  veins  pierce  the  great 
trap  range  or  dyke,  and  frequently  extend  into  the  Silurian 
sandstones  on  either  side  of  the  trap  ridge. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  great  trap  dyke  (which  here  rnakes- 
semi-mountains  twelve  hundred  feet  high)  was  first  upheaved 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


117 


and  then  split  by  shrinkage-fissures  as  it  cooled ; that  these 
fissures  were  filled  with  gangue  rock  and  copper  sulphides 
after  the  usual  fashion,  and  that  these  copper  sulphides  were 
afterwards  smelted  in  place  by  a fresh  attack  of  subter- 
ranean heat,  which  drove  out  the  sulphur  without  giving 
access  to  oxygen  enough  to  oxidize  the  copper.  The  result 
of  this,  or  whatever  operation  it  may  have  been,  has  been 
•that  the  metallic  copper  is  now  met  with  in  great  masses, 
requiring  years  of  labor  to  cut  them  up  into  pieces  small 
enough  to  be  handled.  At  other  points  in  the  same  vein  are 
found  great  bodies  of  vein  rock  stuck  full  of  shot  copper, 
like  currants  in  a fruit  cake.  The  stocks  of  the  mining  com- 
panies rise  when  they  find  the  shot  copper,  as  it  is  so  easy  to 
extract  and  send  to  market. 

CHALCOPYRITE. 

This  is  the  leanest  of  the  principal  copper  ores,  but  it  is 
also  the  most  important,  as  it  is  very  much  the  most  abund- 
ant. It  description  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.2  Iron 30  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.7  Sulphur 35  p.  ct. 

Copper 35  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  brass  or  light 
orange-yellow,  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile; 
cleavage,  not  perfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  granular. 

This  ore  is  called  copper  pyrites,  and  it  is  the  definite 
chemical  compound,  but  it  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
many  mechanical  compounds  usually  called  by  that  name.  A 
ten-pound  specimen  of  sulphide  ore  may  contain  nine  pounds 
of  iron  pyrite,  having  one  pound  of  true  copper  pyrite  dis- 
tributed through  it  in  pieces,  and  yet  the  very  wise  will  call 
the  whole  lump  copper  pyrites,  and  marvel  much  when  the 
assayer  Reports  it  as  containing  only  three  and  a half  per 
cent,  of  copper. 

ENARGITE. 

This  sulphide  of  copper  and  arsenic  is  as  follows : 


118 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


Gravity . . 4.4 

Hardness  3.0 

Sulphur 33  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  gray  to  black; 
feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  granular,  columnar. 

Varieties  of  this  ore  contain  antimony  or  iron,  and  the^ 
are  all  found  with  other  copper  ores. 


Copper 48  p.  ct. 

Arsenic 30  p.  ct. 


TETRAHEDRITE. 

This  is  a big  ore  and  deserves  a big  name,  but  the  miners 
call  it  “ Gray  Copper  ” and  fahlerz.  Its  description  is : 


Gravity 5.0 

Hardness 3.5  to  4.5 

Copper 35  p.  ct. 

Antimony 30  p.  ct. 


Sulphur. 

Arsenic., 

Iron 

Zinc,  etc, 


30  p.  ct. 
7 p.  ct. 
5 p.  ct. 
3 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  gray;  feel, 
harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture, 
conchoidal  to  uneven ; texture,  granular  to  massive. 

This  ore  has  still  other  relations,  such  as  silver  and  mer- 
cury, and  occasionally  gold,  which  lodge  with  it  at  times. 
This  ore  and  chalcopyrite  are  the  great  producers  of  the 
copper  of  commerce,  and  generally  are  associated  in  the 
same  veins,  together  with  chalcocite,  which  is  the  purest  of 
the  sulphides  of  copper. 


CHALCOCITE. 


This  is  also  sometimes  called  gray  copper,  but  its  best 
name  is  vitreous  copper  or  copper  glance.  It  is  very  rich,  will 
melt  in  the  flame  of  a candle,  and  is  found  in  veins  with 
other  sulphides.  Its  points  are : 

Gravity 5.6  | Copper 8(^p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.7  Sulphur 30  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  gray ; feel, 
harsh ; elasticity,  sectile ; cleavage,  indistinct ; fracture,  con- 
choidal ; texture,  granular  to  massive,  crystalline. 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


119 


BORNITE 

This  is  the  purple  copper , or  horse-flesh  copper,  of  the 
miners,  and  is  found  in  veins  with  other  sulphides.  Its 
points  are : 

Gravity 5.0  I Iron 16  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.0  i Sulphur 20  p.  ct. 

Copper 55  p.  ct.  | 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  coppery-red ; 
feel,  smooth  to  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imper- 
fect; fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal;  texture,  massive  to 
granular. 

MELACONITE. 

This  is  the  black  copper  of  the  miners,  and  its  descriptive 
list  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 6.2  I Copper 80  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.0  to  3.0  | Oxygen 20  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic  to  dull  earthy;  clearness,  opaque;  color, 
gray  to  black;  feel,  harsh  to  greasy;  elasticity,  brittle  to 
flexible ; cleavage,  indistinct ; fracture,  uneven ; texture, 
foliated  to  massive  and  earthy. 

This  black  oxide  of  copper  is  most  usually  found  as  an 
upper  layer  in  veins  containing  the  copper  sulphides,  and 
results  from  the  air  and  rain  water  getting  into  the  upper 
portion  of  the  vein  and  oxidizing  the  sulphides.  Many 
copper  veins  in  this  country  have  large  amounts  of  “ gossan ” 
on  the  immediate  outcrop,  resulting  from  the  oxidation  of 
the  iron  pyrites,  and  under  this  gossan,  speckled  with 
malachite,  comes  the  black  oxide  of  copper.  Under  this 
again  comes  the  red  oxide  of  copper  (next  described),  and 
under  this  the  copper  sulphides. 

r CUPRITE. 

This  is  the  red  oxide  of  copper,  and  is  the  rarest,  as  well 
as  the  richest,  of  all  the  principal  copper  ores.  Its  descrip- 
tive list  is  as  follows  : 


120 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


Gravity 6.0  Copper 89  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.6  Oxygen 11  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  sub-metallic  to  earthy;  clearness,  translucent  to 
opaque ; color,  red ; feel,  harsh  ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
distinct  to  imperfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  granular 
to  earthy. 

This  ore,  like  the  black  oxide,  is  found  at  times  in  a crys- 
talline condition,  but  also  like  black  oxide,  it  is  most  often 
in  an  earthy  condition  and  will  soil  the  fingers  if  wet.  The 
red  colors  of  the  pure  ore  are  very  brilliant  and  are  much 
used  for  paint;  but  there  is  a rare  variety  called  tile  ore, 
which  is  a dark  brick-red  or  brown,  and  contains  iron  oxides 
generally.  These  red  oxide  ores  of  copper  are  not  nearly 
so  abundant  as  the  black  oxides,  but  they  are  nearly  always 
found  in  the  same  veins. 

CHRYSOCOLLA. 

This  is  the  silicate  of  copper,  and  its  descriptive  list  is  as 
follows : 

Gravity * . 2.2  Silica 34  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.0  Water 21  p.  ct. 

Copper  Oxide 45  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  earthy;  clearness,  translucent;  color, 
green-blue;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile; 
cleavage,  indistinct;  fracture,  conchoidal;  texture,  massive 
to  earthy. 

This  is  one  of  the  minor  ores  of  copper,  but  yet,  as  it  is 
frequently  found  filling  up  good-sized  seams  and  fissures  m 
and  about  the  main  veins,  it  is  of  some  importance.  It  looks 
very  much  like  a bright  greenish  earth,  and  its  gravity  is  so 
little  that  it  is  apt  to  be  classed  as  non-metallic  and  disre- 
garded by  the  non-expert. 

There  are  still  other  ores  of  copper,  but  they  are  unim- 
portant as  sources  of  copper,  and  will  be  described  under 
other  heads  When  good  for  anything.  The  green  and  blue 
carbonates  will  bespoken  of  as  malachite  among  Ornamental 
Stones. 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


121 


One  thing  about  copper  ores  worth  remembering  is 
they  are  always  bright  in  their  coloring,  and  another  thing 
is  that  you  can  always  cut  them  with  an  ordinary  penknife 
unless  the  lump  contains  a considerable  amount  of  iron 
pyrites,  which  resist  the  knife. 

Copper  is  coming  into  new  uses  every  day,  and  the 
electrical  men  have  to  have  so  much  of  it  that  Westing- 
house  and  others  are  buying  up  the  big  mines  so  as  to  insure 
themselves  full  supplies  in  case  any  more  French  copper 
syndicates  disturb  the  market  and  make  the  metal  scarce. 


TIN. 

This  metal  is  not  an  American  product  to  any  great  extent, 
but  we  include  some  points  about  it,  as  it  is  likely  that 
deposits  of  it  may  be  discovered  thereby.  Nearly  all  the  tin 
used  in  the  world  comes  from  Malacca,  Banca,  Tasmania, 
Australia,  and  Cornwall.  Some  tin  is  found  in  Mexico,  and 
is  irregularly  worked,  and  some  is  found  in  California,  Mis- 
souri, and  a few  other  localities  in  the  United  States,  but  it 
is  nowhere  mined  within  American  jurisdiction,  and  we 
have  to  import  all  our  tin  and  pay  twenty  to  twenty-four 
cents  per  pound  ror  it.  Tin  is  never  found  in  nature  in  the 
metallic  state,  but  we  give  its  features,  as  follows : 

Gravity 7.3  I Tin 100 

Hardness... 2.0 

Lustre,  bright  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  silvery- 
white  ; feel,  smooth  to  harsh ; elasticity,  malleable ; cleavage* 
none;  fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal;  texture,  crystalline. 

The  crystalline  texture  of  tin  is  such  that  it  gives  out  a 
crackling  sound  when  being  bent. 

TINSTONE. 

This  is  cassiterite,  and  its  points  are  as  follows : 

Gravity 6.5  to  7.0  I Tin 78  p.  ct. 

Hardness ....6,5  to  7.0  Oxygen.... 22  p.  ct. 


122 


COPPER  AND  TIN  ORES. 


Lustre,  vitreous  to  adamantine ; clearness,  translucent  to 
opaque;  color,  brown  to  black  generally,  but  gray,  red, 
yellow  at  times;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage, 
none ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive. 

This  is  the  great  ore  of  tin,  and  from  it  is  smelted  about 
all  the  tin  we  have  in  use.  There  are  considerable  differ- 
ences in  appearance  and  structure  among  varieties  of  tin- 
stone, and  brilliancy  of  lustre  sometimes  gives  way  to  a 
woody  structure  and  appearance.  This  variety  looks  just 
like  petrified  wood,  but  it  is  not  cleavable.  This  stone  is 
found  in  regular  fissure  veins  in  all  the  primary  rocks,  and 
it  is  the  only  valuable  metallic  ore  that  seems  to  find  a con- 
genial home  between  vein  walls  of  granite.  Other  metals 
only  get  into  veins  in  granite  when  they  can’t  help  it.  There 
are  tin  mines  in  the  lower  Silurian  rocks  in  Australia,  and 
very  productive  ones  they  are. 

Stream  Tin  is  tinstone  after  it  has  been  washed  down  out 
of  the  vein-stone  and  deposited  in  the  beds  of  streams  along 
with  sand  and  gravel.  It  is  collected  by  washing,  same  as 
stream  gold. 

STANNITE. 

This  is  sulphide  of  tin,  containing  only  twenty-six  per 
cent,  of  tin,  and  is  not  a plentiful  or  valuable  ore.  It  is 
usually  associated  with  pyrites  of  iron  and  copper,  and  the 
miners  call  it  ubell  metal”  on  account  of  its  appearance 
and  sonorousness.  It  is  worked  more  for  its  copper  than  for 
its  tin. 

Notwithstanding  the  discoveries  of  tin  ores  in  the  Black 
Hills  in  Wyoming,  King’s  Mountain  in  South  and  North 
Carolina,  and  at  Vesuvius  in  Virginia,  we  have  yet  no  pro- 
ductive tin  mine  of  America. 


VII. 

LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES. 


Lead — Galena,  Carbonate,  Phosgenite,  Leadhillite 
Sartorite.  Zinc — Zinc  Blende,  Calamine 
Smithsonite,  Zincite,  Gahnite. 


LEAD. 

This  metal  is  very  plentiful,  and  rarely  sells -for  more  than 
four  and  a half  cents  per  pound  in  pigs ; hut  refined  sells 
for  one-fourth  more.  The  points  of  lead  are  as  follows : 

Gravity 11.4  I Lead  100  p.  ct. 

Hardness,  about 1.5 

Lustre,  metallic,  dull;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  leaden- 
gray  ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  sectile,  flexible ; fracture,  un- 
even ; cleavage,  none  ; texture,  massive. 

As  the  fables  go,  lead  has  been  found  native  in  obscure 
localities,  and  specimens  of  it  exist  in  mineral  cabinets,  but 
it  is  not  met  with  in  real  life,  except  as  derived  from  its  ores. 
These  ores  are  many  and  various,  but  a vast  number  of 
them  are  very  rare,  and  don’t  amount  to  enough  to  waste 
time  on.  They  are  alwavs  found  accompanying  the  follow- 
ing named  principal  ores,  and  so  will  not  be  lost  or  over- 
looked by  the  miner : 

GALENA. 

This  is  the  great  ore  of  lead.  It  is  the  sulphide  of  lead, 
and  is  found  all  over  the  world.  Its  descriptive  list  is  as 
follows : 


124 


LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES. 


Gravity 7.5  Lead 87  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.6  | Sulphur 13  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic  ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  leaden-gray ; 
feel,  smooth  to  harsh : elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile ; cleavage, 
perfect ; fracture,  even,  to  sub-conchoidal ; texture,  granular 
mostly,  but  also  foliated,  tabular,  fibrous. 

The  grains  of  pure  galena  are  nearly  always  cubical  or 
tabular,  but  when  these  grains  are  rounded  on  the  corners 
and  very  small,  the  ore  is  almost  sure  to  contain  some  silver. 
Such  great  silver  mines  as  the  Eureka,  the  Richmond  and 
the  Albion  are  merely  veins  of  galena  carrying  silver  enough 
to  pay  costs  and  heavy  profits,  leaving  the  lead  to  come  into 
market  as  an  extra,  which  weighs  upon  the  spirits  of  the 
Missouri  lead  miners.  The  Utah  silver  mines  are  also 
really  lead  mines,  and  their  biggest  profit,  in  many  cases, 
comes  from  the  lead. 

The  galena  mines  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Iowa  and  Illinois 
are  beds  and  veins  in  the  magnesian  limestones  of  those 
States.  Some  are  in  Silurian  and  some  in  Carboniferous 
groups,  and  the  lead  and  zinc  ores  are  found  intercalated 
with  each  other,  and,  curiously  enough,  these  beds  will  sud- 
denly disappear  at  one  level  on  top  of  a particular  bed  of 
rock  and  be  found  again  beneath  the  bottom  of  the  same  bed. 

There  are  in  Southwest  Virginia  many  very  large  beds  of 
lead  and  zinc  ores  among  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  lime- 
stones, and  also  many  true  veins.  This  is  also  true  of  the 
entire  western  slope  of  the  Appalachians  all  the  way  down 
through  West  Carolina,  East  Tennessee  into  North  Georgia, 
and  Alabama  to  the  Coosa  River. 

CARBONATE. 

The  proper  name  of  this  ore  is  Cerussite,  but  as  the  Lead- 
villians  have  got  the  great  majority  of  all  that  is  known  to 
exist,  and  they  insist  on  calling  it  carbonate,  the  rest  of  us 
will  save  trouble  by  calling  it  carbonate  also.  Its  points  are : 

Gravity 6.4  I Lead  Oxide 83  p.  ct. 

Hardness .3.3  Carbonic  Acid 17  p.  ct. 


LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES. 


125 


Lustre,  vitreous  to  iesinous  ; clearness,  translucent;  color, 
light  to  dark-gray;  feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage, 
not  always  perfect ; fracture,  conclioidal ; texture,  massive 
to  granular. 

This  and  the  ore  phosgenite,  next  spoken  of,  are,  with 
iron  carbonates,  the  great  ores  of  Leadville.  There  they 
are  indiscriminately  called  “ carbonates,”  and  the  silver  is 
found  in  the  shape  of  chloride  mixed  in  with  them.  Cerus- 
site  and  phosgenite,  when  in  powder  and  demoralized 
generally,  look  like  so  much  clay  or  earth,  and  can  only  be 
distinguished  by  their  extra  weight  or  by  actual  test.  It  is 
probable  that  rich  carbonates  are  daily  walked  over  in 
many  places  in  the  Eastern  States  without  exciting  sus- 
picion. 

PHOSGENITE. 

This  is  another  lead  carbonate,  and  its  points  are : 

Gravity 6.2  I Lead  Carbonate 49  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.9  Lead  Chloride 51  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  adamantine  metallic  ; clearness,  transparent ; color, 
gray  to  yellowish-white ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle  to 
sectile ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  even  ; texture,  crystal- 
line, tabular. 

The  chlorine  in  this  ore  evidently  has  some  connection 
with  the  chlorine  in  the  silver  ores  at  Leadville,  and  it  is 
generally  held  now  that  both  the  carbonates  and  chlorides 
of  lead  and  silver  are  resultants  from  the  decomposition  of 
galena  and  silver  sulphides  previously  existing.  The 
reader  is  referred  to  remarks  on  the  formation  of  veins  in 
the  chapter  on  Bed  Rocks  for  further  suggestions  on 
these  decompositions. 

Other  lead  ores  are  the  following,  but,  as  they  are  unim- 
portant and  only  found  in  connection  with  sulphides  or  car- 
bonates, they  will  not  be  described  in  great  detail  : 

Anglesite  is  a sulphate  of  lead  resulting  from  changes  in 
sulphides. 

Leadhillite  is  a sulphate  and  carbonate  of  lead  resulting 
from  sulphides. 


126 


LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES. 


Clausthalite  is  selenide  of  lead. 

Zinkenite  is  sulphide  of  lead  and  antimony,  and  is  more  of 
an  antimony  ore  than  a lead  ore. 

Sartorite  is  sulphide  of  lead  and  arsenic. 

Boulangerite  is  similar  to  zinkenite,  being  a sulphide  of 
lead  and  antimony. 

Bournonite  is  sulphide  of  lead,  antimony  and  copper. 

Pyromorphite  is  lead  oxide  with  chlorine  and  phosphorus. 

Mimetite  is  lead  oxide  with  chlorine  and  arsenic. 

Vanadite  is  lead  oxide  with  chlorine  and  vanadium. 

These  wildcat  ores  are  all  good  cabinet  specimens,  but 
none  are  abundant  enough  to  be  looked  for  as  lead  ores. 

REMARKS. 

Electricity  is  increasing  the  demand  for  lead  greatly,  as  it 
is  found  that  the  lead  plate  for  storage  batteries  and  the  lead 
piping  for  underground  cables  are  the  best. 

ZINC. 

This  metal  is  not  found  native,  but  has  to  be  extracted 
from  its  ores.  Its  points  are  : 

Gravity 7.2  j Zinc.... 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.5  to  2.0  | 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  white ; feel, 
harsh;  elasticity,  flexible,  sectile;  cleavage,  imperfect;  frac- 
ture, uneven ; texture,  massive. 

Crude  zinc,  in  the  shape  of  spelter,  sells  at  five  and  a half 
to  six  cents  per  pound,  and  refined  sheet  zinc  at  seven  to 
seven  and  a half  cents.  There  are  five  ores  of  zinc,  as  fol- 
lows : 

ZINC  BLENDE. 

This  is  the  sulphide  of  zinc,  called  Sphalerite  in  laboratory 
and  Black  Jack  in  the  mine.  Its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.1  I Zinc 67  p.  ct. 

Hardess 3.7  | Sulphur 33  p.  ct. 


LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES 


127 


Lustre,  resinous ; clearness,  translucent ; color,  whitish- 
yellow  to  brown;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage, 
perfect  ; fracture,  conclioidal ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

Its  color  can  be  red  or  green  or  bluish,  according  to  the 
character  of  impurities  present.  Iron  is  often  present  and 
colors  the  mineral  dark  brown  to  black.  This  ore  looks 
much  like  a bundle  of  little  balls  of  resin  agglutinated  by  a 
cement  of  the  same  resin. 

Although  black  jack  is  the  bottom  ore  from  which  all 
other  zinc  ores  have  developed,  it  is  the  smallest  actual  pro- 
ducer of  the  two  or  three  principal  ores,  and  is  the  most 
subject  to  malediction  of  all  ores.  It  is  very  refractory  in 
the  furnace,  and  makes  refractory  all  ores  of  other  metals 
that  it  may  be  mixed  with.  The  silver  men  especially  are 
worried  by  it,  and  its  presence  in  the  silver  mines  in  many 
Western  localities  is  the  bottom  reason  for  non-payment  of 
dividends  by  many  smelting  companies. 

Black  jack  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  mines  in  Southwest 
Virginia  and  on  down  the  Appalachian  range  into  Alabama, 
and  a good  deal  of  zinc  and  white  zinc  for  paint  is  made 
from  it.  It  is  also  found  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey, 
and  in  the  lead  districts  of  Missouri,  Arkansas  and  Illinois 
it  is  found  with  the  lead. 

CALAMINE. 

This  is  the  silicate  of  zinc,  and  is  the  great  producing  ore. 
Its  description  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 3.0  to  3.7  | Silica 25  p.  ct. 

Hardness .4.6  to  5.0  i Water 8 p.  ct. 

Zinc  Oxide ...67p.  ct.  | 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white; 
feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

Calamine  can  present  many  very  different  appearances. 
The  pure  crystalline  variety  is  simply  a block  of  clear  crys- 
tal, but  when  this  has  been  treated  to  a little  washing  and 
stirring  in  water  and  allowed  to  settle  and  get  dry  it  looks 


128 


LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES. 


much  like  whitish-clay  or  shale.  When  it  has  sand  and 
other  impurities  in  it  its  color  is  correspondingly  changed, 
and  few  inexpert  people  would  take  it  to  be  metallic  ore. 
To  further  complicate  matters,  there  is  another  ore  called 
Willemite,  which  is  also  a silicate  of  zinc,  hut  contains  no 
water,  and  the  two  are  nearly  always  found  together.  They 
both  are  respltants  of  the  decomposition  of  black  jack. 
Calamine  and  the  carbonate  ore  next  spoken  of  are  the  main 
sources  of  supply  for  zinc 

SMITHSONITE 

This  is  the  carbonate  of  zinc,  and  its  descriptive  list  is  as 
follows : 

Gravity 4.0  to  4.4  | Zinc  Oxide 65  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.6  to  5.0  Carbonic  Acid 35  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent ; color,  gray-white ; 
feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  ore,  like  calamine,  is  often  found  in  the  earthy  con- 
dition, looking  more  like  yellowish-clay  than  an  ore.  The 
miners  call  both  these  ores,  when  in  this  condition,  tallow 
clay,  and  certain  other  conditions  induce  them  to  call  them 
both  dry  bone . 

The  silicate  and  carbonate  ores  are  nearly  always  found 
together  in  veins  or  beds  in  the  lower  groups  of  the  second- 
ary formation,  and  they  are  found  in  the  greatest  abundance 
and  perfection  in  the  lead  mines  of  Missouri.  Like  the 
silicate  ores,  which  go  in  a pair,  one  hydrous  and  the  other 
anhydrous,  the  carbonates  are  also  two  in  number,  one 
watered,  the  other  dry.  Hydrozincite  is  the  wet  carbonate, 
and  contains  eleven  per  cent,  of  water.  It  accompanies 
smithsonite,  but  is  unimportant. 

ZINCITE. 

This  is  the  zinc  oxide  which  appears  among  the  constitu- 
ents of  the  silicates  and  carbonates.  Its  description  is  as 
follows : 


LEAD  AND  ZINC  ORES. 


129 


Gravity 5.5  Zinc 80  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.3  Oxygen ..20  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  red  to 
orange;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  foliated. 

This  is  called  red  zinc  ore , but  it  is  very  rare,  and  is  useful 
chiefly  as  an  ingredient  in  the  other  ores. 

GAHNITE. 

This  is  zinc  spinel  or  aluminate  of  zinc,  and,  so  far  as 
known,  it  is  a very  rare  ore,  but  as  it  may  be  plentiful, 
though  overlooked,  we  will  describe  it : 

Gravity 4.3  1 Zinc  Oxide 39  p.  ct. 

Hardness 7.7  Alumina 61  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitredus ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color, 
green,  yellowish  or  bluish;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle; 
cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal;  texture, 
crystalline. 

REMARKS. 

Here,  again,  electricity  comes  in  to  use  up  zinc  in  primary 
batteries,  and  as  a diamagnetic  coating  for  paramagnetic  iron 
discs  for  armature  cores,  to  prevent  loss  and  heating  by  local 
currents. 


VIII. 

NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME. 


Nickel—Pyrriitite,  Millerite,  Nickslite,  Glance. 
Cobalt— Smaltite,  Cobaltite,  Cobalt  Pyrite, 
Cobalt  Bloom.  Chrome  — Chromite. 


NICKEL. 

This  metal  is  not  found  in  the  metallic  form  in  nature, 
except  as  a constituent  in  meteors  along  with  metallic  iron. 
Its  points  are  : 

Gravity 8.2  I Nickel 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.5 

Lustre,  bright  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  silver- 
white;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  flexible;  cleavage,  none; 
fracture,  hackly ; texture,  massive. 

Nickel  is  very  malleable  and  ductile,  is  brilliant  and 
showy,  and  does  not  tarnish  at  ordinary  temperatures.  It 
is,  therefore,  used  for  cheap  coins,  spoons,  table-ware,  and 
for  nickel-plating  harness  buckles,  copper  watch  cases,  and 
all  sorts  of  sham  work.  There  is  no  open  market  for  nickel, 
as  its  production  is  monopolized  by  a few  men  who  keep 
their  own  counsel. 

pyrrhotite. 

This  is  the  same  Magnetic  Pyrites  which  was  mentioned  as 
an  iron  ore  and  of  not  much  account  as  such,  but  it  is  the 


NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME. 


131 


ore  from  which  all  our  nickel  comes,  so  we  will  describe  it 
again,  with  an  average  percentage  of  nickel  in  it : 


Gravity 4.5 

Hardness 3.8 

Iron 55  p.  ct. 


Nickel 5 p.  ct. 

Sulphur 40  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  yellow  to 
pinkish- yellow ; feel,  smoothish;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleav- 
age, perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  ore  is  a little  lighter  in  color  and  a little  softer  than 
the  non-nickeliferous  pyrrhotite,  but  it  seems  to  be  fully  as 
magnetic.  The  percentage  of  nickel  is  very  various, 
ranging  up  to  twelve  per  cent,  in  rare  cases.  This  is  the 
great  ore  of  the  Lancaster  Gap  mines  of  Pennsylvania, 
from  which  nearly  all  our  nickel  supply  comes. 

MILLEItITE. 

This  is  Nickel  Pyrite  or  Sulphide  of  Nickel,  and  it  is  thought 
by  some  that  this  ore  and  the  ordinary  iron  pyrrhotite  are 
mixed  mechanically  and  make  up  the  nickeliferous  pyrrho- 
tite. However  that  may  be,  the  description  of  millerite  is 
as  follows : 


Gravity.. 5.0 

Hardness 3.3 


Nickel ..64  p.  ct. 

Sulphur 36  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  yellow  to 
bronze;  feel,  harsh;  elasticit)',  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  fibrous,  columnar. 

This  ore  is  very  rich,  but  it  is  so  scarce  as  not  to  amount 
to  much  by  itself. 

NICKELITE. 

This  is  also  called  copper  nickel,  from  its  color,  althougn 
there  is  no  copper  in  it.  Its  points  are  : 


Gravity 7.4 

Hardness 5.3 


Nickel ....44  p.  ct. 

Arsenic  ..............  ,5G  p.  ct. 


132 


NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME. 


Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  red  to  grayish- 
red;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imperfect; 
fracture,  uneven  ; texture,  massive. 

This  ore  resembles  the  bornite  purple  ore  of  copper,  but 
differs  as  follows : It  is  a lighter  red  in  color,  is  one-half 

heavier,  and  two-thirds  harder  than  bornite.  There  are 
varieties  of  this  ore  in  which  antimony  is  present  in  large 
percentage.  This  ore  also  is  a rare  one,  but  valuable  when 
found. 

GLANCE. 

This  appears  to  be  nearly  the  same  thing  as  nickelite,  with 
some  sulphur  intermixed.  Its  points  are  : 

Gravity 6.0  Arsenic 45  p.  ct. 

Hardness 5.5  Sulphur 20  p.  ct. 

Nickel 35  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic  ; clearness,  opaque  ; color,  white  to  gray; 
feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture, 
uneven ; texture,  cubic,  granular,  tabular. 

There  is  also  a variety  of  this  ore  which  contains  anti- 
mony in  large  percentage,  also  ruthenium  and  other  rare 
minerals,  but  the  whole  family  are  hard  to  find. 

Other  still  more  scarce  minerals  containing  nickel  are 
the  following : Nickel  Bloom  contains  nickel  oxide,  arsenic 
oxide  and  water.  Nickel  Emerald  contains  nickel  oxide, 
carbonic  acid  and  water.  Genthite  contains  nickel  oxide, 
silica,  water,  magnesia,  lime,  and  is  a “job  lot”  generally. 
Grunanite  contains  copper,  cobalt,  nickel,  iron,  bismuth 
and  sulphur.  Ordinary  Iron  Pyrite  also  often  contains  a 
pinch  of  nickel  big  enough  to  be  worth  looking  after,  but, 
as  it  don’t  alter  the  regular  descriptive  list,  it  is  hard  to 
recognize  without  a ten  dollar  analysis. 

REMARKS. 

Nickel  is  used  for  coinage  purposes  by  our  government, 
and  it  is  also  the  great  plating  metal  next  to  silver.  There 
is  now  coming  in  a new  steel,  called  ferro-nickel,  which  is 
claimed  to  have  valuable  qualities. 


NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME. 


133 


COBALT. 


This  metal,  like  chrome,  is  rarely  used  in  the  metallic  state, 
dut  its  ores  furnish  us  the  materials  for  many  of  our  finest 
colors,  especially  those  for  coloring  glass.  The  beautiful 
blue  smalt  is  a cobalt  color.  The  following  are  the  ores  : 

SMALTITE. 

This  is  arsenical  cobalt,  and  its  points  are : 


Gravity.. 

Hardness 

Arsenic.. 


,6.5  to  7.0 
.5.5  to  6.0 
.70  p.  Ct. 


Cobalt 

Nickel, 

Iron . . . 


14  p.  ct. 
6 p.  ct. 
10  p.  ct. 


Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque  ; color,  grayish-white ; 
feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle  ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture, 
uneven  ; texture,  granular. 

• COBALTITE. 

This  is  cobalt  glance,  and  its  points  are  as  follows : 

Gravity 6.2  I Cobalt 35  p.  ct. 

Hardness 5.5  i Sulphur 20  p.  ct. 

Arsenic 45  p.  ct  | 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  white  to  red- 
dish-gray ; feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect ; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular  to  crystalline. 


COBALT  PYBITE. 

This  is  cobalt  sulphide,  and  its  points  are  as  follows : 

Gravity 5.0  I Cobalt 58  p.  ct. 

Hardness 5.5  | Sulphur 42  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  gray  to  red- 
dish-gray ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imper- 
fect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  fine,  or  coarse. 

In  this  particular  ore  the  cobalt  is  more  liable  to  replace- 
ment, in  whole  or  in  part,  by  nickel  than  in  any  other  ore. 


134 


NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME. 


COBALT  BLOOM. 

This  is  the  ore  containing  oxidized  cobalt,  and  its  descrip- 
tive list  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 3.0  I Cobalt  Oxide 38  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.0  i Water 24  p.  ct. 

Arsenic  Oxide 38  p.  ct.  | 

Lustre,  pearly  to  vitreous  to  dull ; clearness,  transparent 
down  to  sub-translucent;  color,  crimson-red,  bluish  to  green- 
ish; feel,  smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle  to  flexible; 
cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  mixed  even  to  uneven ; texture, 
foliated,  columnar  to  earthy. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  cobalt  oxide  is  entirely  different 
in  appearance  and  physical  characteristics  from  any  of  the 
others.  Fine  pieces  of  it  form  very  valuable  cabinet  speci- 
mens. 

Cobalt  bloom,  smaltite  and  cobalt  glance  are  the  ores 
from  which  smalt  is  most  usually  made.  The  peculiarity  of 
the  cobalt  colors  is  that  they  stand  fire  so  well,  and  for  porce- 
lain painting,  pottery  decoration  and  glass  staining  they 
are  almost  always  used. 

Cobalt  ores  never  occur  in  veins  or  deposits  of  their  own, 
but  they  are  always  found  in  veins  of  other  metals,  such  as 
nickel,  copper,  and  others.  These  other  metals,  indeed,  fre- 
quently replace  part  of  the  cobalt  in  its  own  ores,  so  that 
pure  cobalt  ore  is  very  rare. 


CHROME, 

Chromium  is  the  proper  name  of  this  metal,  while  chrome 
is  its  ordinary  name ; but  as  we  are  writing  for  the  benefit  of 
the  unscientific  we  will  note  the  fact  and  go  ahead.  Chrome 
is  not  found  naturally  in  the  metallic  state,  but  is  entirely 
derived  from  its  ores.  As  a metal,  it  is  only  used  in  alloy 
with  iron,  making  chrome  steel  for  use  as  a tool  steel.  It  is 
claimed  to  be  superior  to  carbon  steel  for  this  purpose.  It 
has  also  been  tried  for  bridge  steel,  but  not  successfully. 


NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME, 


135 


CIIROMITE. 

This  is  the  ore  from  which  all  chrome  is  derived.  Its 
descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.4  I Iron  Protoxide 32  p.  ct. 

Hardness 5.5  Chrome  Sesquioxide,  68  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  sub-metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  steel-gray 
to  brownish-black ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive  to  granular. 

The  chromite  from  some  deposits  looks  very  like  a mass 
of  small  duck-shot  agglomerated  with  a yellowish-white 
cement.  Other  ore  will  be  of  the  same  analysis,  and  yet 
look  like  the  finest-grained  magnetic  iron  ore.  These  ores 
are  found  mostly  among  the  serpentine  dykes,  and  are  some- 
times in  veins,  sometimes  in  pockets,  and  often  distributed 
through  the  body  of  serpentine  rocks.  The  writer  has  seen 
beds  of  sand  in  which  one-half  the  weight  was  made  up  of 
chromite,  this  ore  having  evidently  been  derived  by  washing 
down  the  substance  of  neighboring  hills. 

The  uses  of  chrome  are  almost  entirely  connected  with 
the  dyeing  of  fabrics  and  the  making  of  paints,  and  for 
these  purposes  the  ore  is  acted  on  directly,  without  reducing 
it  to  the  metallic  form.  Chromate  of  potash  is  the  brownish- 
yellow  base  first  produced  from  the  ore,  and  from  this  base 
the  bichromates  and  all  the  other  greens,  yellows,  blues, 
browns  and  reds  are  produced.  The  whole  business  in 
Europe  is  in  the  hands  of  a Scotch  family,  and  that  in 
America  is  owned  by  a Baltimore  family,  and  these  two 
families  are  in  agreement.  Many  times  have  new  men  built 
expensive  works  and  put  new  products  on  the  market,  but 
the  old  manufacturers  simply  put  down  prices  all  over  the 
world,  until  the  new  product  disappeared  from  the  market. 
This  means  the  bankruptcy  of  the  new  men. 

Chrome  ore  is  very  apt  to  have  impurities  mixed  with  it, 
and  as  its  analysis  is  one  of  the  very  difficult  ones,  its  true 
value  is  generally  known  only  to  the  buying  agents  of  these 


136 


NICKEL,  COBALT  AND  CHROME. 


skilled  manufacturers.  It  is  also  to  be  remembered  that 
these  men  constitute  the  only  market  for  chrome  ore,  so  that 
mine  owners  are  really  at  their  mercy.  The  writer  has 
known  of  sales  of  ore  containing  sixty  per  cent,  chromic 
sesquioxide  at  forty-two  dollars  per  ton  in  Baltimore. 

Chrome  in  iron  makes  chrome  steel,  much  used  for  cutting 
tools,  but  its  brittleness  and  uncertainty  are  defects* 


IX. 

ANTIMONY,  MERCURY,  PLATINUM,  &c. 


Antimony  — Antimony  Glance.  Mercury  — Amalgam, 
Cinnabar.  Platinum.  Aluminum.  Uranium. 


ANTIMONY. 

Antimony  comes  first  alphabetically,  but  not  otherwise. 
It  is  too  brittle  to  be  of  much  use  alone,  but  it  is  very  valua- 
ble in  alloys.  Journal  boxes,  type  metal,  Britannia  ware, 
and  innumerable  other  things  contain  this  metal  as  a harden- 
ing principle.  Its  description  is : 

Gravity 6.7  I Antimony 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.0  | 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color  white,  slightly 
bluish ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular. 

Antimony  sells  at  from  twelve  to  twenty-five  cents  per 
pound,  according  to  purity  and  state  of  market.  It  is  only 
found  native  in  alloy,  never  alone,  and  is  nearly  all  obtained 
from  its  ores.  The  peculiar  star-like  grain  or  crystalline 
texture  of  this  metal  is  enough  to  furnish  its  means  of 
identification.  It  can  be  easily  hammered  into  powder,  being 
very  brittle  when  pure.  It  tarnishes  very  slightly  at  ordi- 
nary temperatures,  but  wThen  only  moderately  heated  in  the 
open  air  it  oxidizes  so  rapidly  as  to  give  off  fumes  and 
flames. 


138  ANTIMONY,  MERCURY,  PLATINUM,  &c. 


ANTIMONY  GLANCE. 

This  is  the  great  ore  of  antimony,  the  others  being  merely 
sufficient  in  quantity  to  afford  cabinet  specimens.  It  is  vari- 
ously called  Gray  Antimony , Antimonite , and  Stibnite , this 
last  being  from  the  former  name  of  the  metal,  Stibium , which 
is  abbreviated  into  Sb  and  used  as  the  symbol.  The  descrip- 
tion of  this  ore  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.5  I Antimony 72  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.0  Sulphur 28  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  gray;  feel, 
smooth  and  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile;  cleavage, 
perfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  granular  to  massive. 

This  ore  tarnishes  rapidly,  getting  black  in  spots,  and 
sometimes  shows  a peacock  iridescence  like  bituminous 
coal.  If  is  very  easily  melted,  and  dissolves  in  hydrochloric 
acid.  It  rarely  occurs  in  deposits  by  itself,  its  usual  com- 
panion being  the  iron  carbonates,  the  zinc,  lead  and  other 
ores,  and  the  barytic  sulphates  and  carbonates.  In  Califor- 
nia some  large  veins  of  mixed  ores  are  found  in  the  foothills 
of  the  southern  counties,  and  a considerable  supply  of  anti- 
mony is  now  coming  from  there.  North  Carolina  is  also 
producing  some  antimony.  This  ore  sometimes  occurs  in 
fibrous  texture,  looking  like  bunches  of  needles. 

Antimony  is  of  very  great  use  in  the  arts  to  mix  with 
other  metals  and  make  such  alloys  as  Babbitt  met^l. 

MERCURY. 

Mercury,  often  called  quicksilver,  occurs  native  as  little 
drops  and  globules  among  its  ores  or  the  rocks  containing 
them.  Its  description  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 18.6  I Mercury *100  p.  ct. 

Hardness Liquid.  | 

Lustre,  bright  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  silver 
white;  feel,  greasy;  elasticity,  cleavage,  fracture,  all  inde- 
scribable ; texture,  liquid. 


ANTIMONY,  MERCURY,  PLATINUM,  &c.  139 


Mercury  is  put  up  in  iron  flasks,  and  sells  at  about  forty 
cents  per  pound,  but  the  price  varies  considerably,  as  there 
are  but  few  great  sources  of  supply,  and  their  owners  some- 
times combine  to  put  up  their  prices.  Then  they  sell  all 
they  can  for  present  and  future  delivery  (especially  future), 
get  up  a quarrel,  abuse  each  other  in  the  papers  and  drop 
prices  to  shake  out  all  the  mercury  they  delivered  as  “ spot.” 
They  buy  this  back  from  its  despairing  owners  at  low 
prices,  and  deliver  it  to  fill  their  contracts  for  futures. 

AMALGAM. 

This  is  mercury  which  has  absorbed  silver  or  other  metal, 
and  its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 14.0  [ Mercury 73  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.3  | Silver 27  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  silver  white; 
feel,  greasy ; elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile ; cleavage,  none  to 
speak  of ; texture,  granular ; fracture,  uneven. 

This  metal  varies  very  greatly  in  its  composition,  for  it  is 
simply  a mixture  of  molecules  and  not  a chemical  compound 
of  atoms.  Sometimes  gold  is  found  instead  of  silver,  and 
sometimes  gold,  silver,  copper  and  other  amalgamable  metals 
all  together.  It  is  found  among  the  precious  metal-mining 
districts,  and  although  very  valuable  it  is  not  abundant. 

CINNABAR. 

This  is  the  great  ore  of  mercury,  and  its  points  are : 

Gravity 9.0  I Mercury 86  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.2  | Sulphur 14  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque  to  translucent ; color, 
scarlet-red ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  sectile  ; cleavage,  perfect ; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline 

Nearly  all  mercury  comes  from  this  ore,  and  it  is  found 
in  beds  and  veins  in  the  primary  and  secondary  formations 
It  is  most  abundant  among  the  softer  rocks,  such  as  shales, 
slates,  limestones,  etc.,  and  least  abundant  among  the 


140  ANTIMONY,  MERCURY,  PLATINUM,  &c. 


harder  granites,  porphyries,  etc.  Sometimes  it  is  found 
permeating  the  rocks  adjoining  the  veins  or  beds,  and  it  is 
fond  of  companionship  with  volcanic  and  sulphurous  rocks 
and  beds. 

Calomel  is  mercury  chloride,  containing  eighty-five  per 
cent,  of  mercury ; and  Hydrargyrite  is  mercury  oxide,  con- 
taining ninety-two  per  cent.  These  two  ores  accompany 
cinnabar,  but  are  unimportant. 


PLATINUM. 

This  metal  is  only  found  in  the  metallic  condition,  some- 
times alloyed  with  other  native  metals,  such  as  iridium  or 
osmium,  but  never  in  chemical  combination  with  other 
substances  which  could  make  an  ore  out  of  it. 

Gravity 16.0  to  22.0  | Platinum 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.0  to  4.5  | 

Lustre,  metallic ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  whitish-gray ; 
feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  ductile,  elastic;  cleavage,  none; 
fracture,  hackly ; texture,  small,  granular. 

The  specific  gravity  of  platinum  is  a little  mixed,  but  the 
trouble  seems  to  be  that  when  in  a native  state,  weighing 
only  sixteen,  it  is  porous,  but  the  pores  are  so  small  as  to 
prevent  the  ingress  of  water.  When  it  is  melted  and 
thoroughly  hammered  or  rolled  or  drawn,  these  pores  are 
all  closed,  and  it  is  so  condensed  as  to  weigh  twenty-two. 

This  metal  does  not  dissolve  in  the  acids  of  usual  strength, 
but  when  mixed  with  ten  per  cent,  of  silver,  nitric  acid  will 
dissolve  the  whole.  Platinum  is  so  nearly  infusible  that  it 
is  used  by  the  electricians  to  concentrate  great  amounts  of 
electricity  in,  and  when  thus  charged  it  becomes  incandescent 
without  burning. 

Platinum  is  found  in  grains  and  dust  in  the  beds  of 
streams,  just  as  gold  is  found,  and  in  the  same  regions,  too. 
Nuggets  of  ten  to  fifteen  pounds  have  been  found  in  Brazil 
and  in  Siberia.  Serpentine  rocks  and  chrome  ores  are  near 
neighbors  of  platinum,  but  it  has  not  yet  been  found  in  veins. 


ANTIMONY,  MERCURY,  PLATINUM,  &c.  141 


ALUMINUM. 

Aluminium,  or  aluminum,  as  we  hasty  Americans  now  call 
it,  is  the  metallic  basis  of  the  aluminous  portions  of  all  clays 
and  other  such  minerals.  It  is  a white  metal  with  a weak 
bluish  tinge,  and  has  a specific  gravity  of  only  2.6,  thus  weigh- 
ing about  as  much  as  common  rocks.  The  metal  has  until 
recently  been  more  of  a curiosity  than  of  any  practical  use, 
but  its  production  has  now  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
professional  chemists,  who  have  no  time  to  waste  in  making 
money,  into  those  of  the  manufacturing  chemists,  who  have 
time  for  such  things,  and  we  are  now  finding  the  new  metal 
applied  to  all  sorts  of  uses,  and  its  price  is  constantly  being 
cheapened.  As  showing  its  greatly  reduced  price,  see  the 
advertisement  below : 

ALUMINUM,  $2  PER  POUND. 

The  Pittsburg  Reduction  Company,  95  Fifth  Avenue,  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
U.  S.  A.,  offers  commercially  pure  Aluminum  at  the  following  rates  at 


Pittsburg,  Pa. : 

Lots  of  1,000  lbs.  and  over $2.00  per  lb. 

Lots  of  500  lbs.  and  over $2.25  per  lb. 

Lots  of  100  lbs.  and  over...... $2.50  per  lb. 


Metal  guaranteed  to  be  equal  in  quality  to  the  best  metal  manufac- 
tured by  any  other  process. 

And  this  is  not  the  end  of  it,  either,  for  there  are  now  sev- 
eral companies  in  this  country  making  it,  and  new  ones 
organizing,  based  on  new  processes  and  patents. 


URANIUM. 

This  is  a greenish-yellow  metal,  very  heavy,  and  has  here- 
tofore been  selling  at  five  to  ten  dollars  per  pound,  but  a 
heavy  vein  of  an  undescribed  ore  containing  it  has  recently 
been  found  in  Cornwall,  and  we  may  soon  see  more  of  it, 
especially  for  use  by  the  counterfeiters,  for  its  alloys  greatly 
resemble  good  gold. 


X. 

GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


Agate — Alabaster — Amber— Amethyst— Aquamarine — 
Carnelian — Chrysoberyl — Chrysoprase — Diamond — 
Emerald— Garnet — Hyacinth — Jasper — L azulite — 
Meerschaum— Onyx— Opal— Ruby— Sapphire— Topaz- 
Tourmaline — Turquoise — Ultramarine — Jade. 


agate. 

This  mineral  comes  first  alphabetically,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  many  forms  in  which  silica  or  quartz  occurs.  In  all 
civilized  countries  it  is  accounted  precious,  and  is  cut  into 
gems.  Its  beauty  is  much  greater  than  is  expressed  in  the 
following  technical  descriptive  list : 

Gravity 2.6  I Silica 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness....^ 7.0 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent  to  transparent; 
color,  of  all  kinds ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
indistinct;  fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

Agates  are  built  up  in  nodules,  layer  upon  layer,  like  the 
skins  of  an  onion,  and  in  some  other  cases  they  look  like 
fibrous  wood.  Others  contain  stains  of  manganese  or  iron, 
disposed  in  moss-like  figures  and  veins,  arranged  so  as  to 
furnish  close  resemblances  to  persons  and  things,  which 
are  easily  recognized,  and  these  agates  command  excessive 
prices.  Sometimes  the  concentric  layers  in  the  nodules 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


143 


will  be  so  thin  as  to  be  mere  films,  and  hundreds  of  them 
occur  within  the  thickness  of  an  inch,  while  each  delicate 
line  can  be  traced  clear  around  the  ball.  Agates  are  care- 
fully cut  into  finished  gems  and  highly  prized  in  Europe 
and  Asia,  but  in  America  no  cutters  have  as  yet  established 
themselves,  although  our  rough  agates  are  of  the  greatest 
known  variety  and  beauty. 

Agates  are  found,  like  other  quartz  pebbles,  along  water- 
courses and  beaches,  but  they  are  generally  confined  to 
eruptive  or  the  older  primary  regions.  The  great  amygda- 
loid trap  rock  of  the  Lake  Superior  country  contains  great 
quantities  of  agates  as  amygdules,  and  as  the  mother  rock 
disintegrates  and  washes  away,  the  agates  get  loose  also 
and  find  their  way  down  to  the  stream  beds.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  trap-rock  regions  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  but 
the  trap  rocks  east  of  the  Appalachian  mountains  contain 
very  few  agates. 

The  reader  is  warned  that  the  most  beautiful  agate,  when 
in  a state  o£  nature,  looks  just  like  any  ordinary  water- 
rolled  pebble,  and  even  when  roughly  broken  it  shows  only 
indistinctly  its  peculiar  structure.  It  should  never  be 
broken, T)ut  should  be  ground  into  a small  facet  on  one  side, 
when  its  > tructure  will  discover  itself.  It  is  very  hard,  but 
can  be  ground  slightly  on  a smooth  quartz  stone  by  hard 
rubbing.  A little  oil  and  some  hard,  sharp  sand  will  assist 
the  grinding,  and  the  oil  will  also  help  in  developing  the 
colors  quickly. 

ALABASTER. 

The  value  of  this  stone  was  much  greater  in  ancient 
times  than  now.  It  is  used  as  a material  to  carve  into  all 
sorts  of  ornamental  work  for  indoor  use.  It  does  not  stand 
exposure,  and  its  polish  gives  way  very  rapidly  before  the 
impure  air  of  our  modern  dwellings.  We  keep  the  smaller 
carvings  of  this  stone  under  glass  covers  nowadays,  and 
we  are  superseding  it  with  artificial  compounds  of  more 
real  Value  and  fully  as  great  beauty.  In  former  times  there 
were  two  alabasters,  one  hard  and  one  soft,  but  the  soft 


144 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


species  is  now  the  only  one  known  properly  by  that  name. 
They  were  both  calcareous,  the  hard  being  calcite  or 
calcium  carbonate,  and  will  be  described  with  one  of  the 
marbles.  The  soft  or  true  alabaster  is  calcium  sulphate, 
and  its  points  are  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.3 

Hardness 1.5 

Lime..,., 33  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  pearly,  sub-yitreous ; clearness,  opaque  to  sub- 
translucent  ; color,  white  to  delicate  pink,  yellow  or  bluish ; 
feel,  smooth  to  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  imper- 
fect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive,  granular. 

When  thread-like  veins  of  blue  or  other  colors  are  found 
in  delicate  tracery  in  alabaster  the  value  is  increased.  This 
stone  is  one  of  the  gypsums,  and  is  found  in  beds  in  the 
secondary  formation,  and  in  pockets  and  veins  in  the  pri- 
mary rocks.  There  is  also  a tertiary  species  of  little  use. 

amber.  # 

When  you  put  the  amber  mouth- piece  of  your  meer- 
schaum pipe  between  your  lips  you  are  tasting  some  hydro- 
carbon, but  it  is  not  in  the  same  condition  as  coal  tar  or  corn 
whiskey ; but  there  is  very  little  difference  between  the  carbon 
of  the  amber  and  that  of  its  counterfeit,  celluloid.  The 
descriptive  list  of  amber  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 1.0  to  1.1  Hydrogen ; ... ..10.5  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.0  to  2.4  Oxygen 10.5  p.  ct. 

Carbon  ^ 79  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  resinous;  clearness,  translucent  to  transparent; 
color,  yellow,  inclining  sometimes  to  red  or  white;  feel, 
smooth ; elasticity,  sectile,  flexible,  elastic ; cleavage,  none ; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive,  crystalline ; tasteless. 

Amber  is  simply  a peculiar  variety  of  resin  or  gum  (some- 
what similar  to  the  gums  used  by  Yankee  school  girls  for 
chewing)  which  has  been  buried  so  long  as  to  have  become 
mineralized.  It  often  contains  insects  which  got  themselves 


Sulphur  trioxide  (acid),  46  p.  ct. 
Water 21  p.  ct. 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


145 


all  stuck  up  in  it  while  it  was  still  soft,  and  have  floundered 
around  so  much  that  sometimes  the  wings  and  bodies  are 
found  well  separated  from  each  other. 

Amber  is  to  be  looked  for  in  any  of  the  lignite  beds,  and 
also  where  any  fossilized  timber  is  found  deep  under  ground. 

Jet  is  often  found  with  amber,  and  appears  to  be  the  knots 
of  the  trees  from  which  the  amber  gum  exuded  during  the 
life  of  the  tree. 

AMETHYST. 

This  is  one  of  the  quartz  stones,  but  differs  from  agate  in 
many  respects,  principally  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.6  I Silica 100  p,  ct. 

Hardness 7.0  | 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  adamantine;  clearness,  transparent; 
color,  purple,  violet ; feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
very  indistinct ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  massive. 

This  crystal  comes  in  six-sided  prisms,  which  generally 
run  to  a point  at  one  end,  and  grow  out  of  a piece  of  silicious 
rock  at  the  other;  A cluster  of  amethysts  taken  out  of  one 
“digging”  will  generally  contain  crystals  of  blue,  green, 
yellow,  red,  gray,  and  white  colors,  and  these  are  all  called 
amethysts  commonly,  although  those  of  purple  or  violet  only 
are  truly  entitled  to  that  name.  The  red  crystals  are  prop- 
erly called  “rose  quartz,”  the  clouded  ones  are  “smoky 
quartz,”  and  the  green  ones  are  “ prase.”  The  yellow  stones 
are  spoken  of  as  false  topaz. 

The  perfectly  clear,  colorless,  limpid  crystals  are  properly 
called  “ rock  crystals ,”  but  the  ladies  have  taken  them  up  and 
made  them  fashionable  under  the  name  of  Alaska  diamonds , 
and  the  jewelers  are  making  whole  oodles  of  money  out  of 
the  fancy.  The  finest  rock  crystals  in  this  country  are 
found  on  Diamond  Mountain,  near  the  Arkansas  Hot 
Springs,  where  they  are  found  in  immense  number  and 
variety,  and  of  the  most  ornamental  and  suggestive  forms. 
That  whole  country  is  silicious  and  the  waters  are  charged 
with  silica. 


140 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


AQUAMARINE. 

This  is  a lovely  stone,  and  its  kinship  with  the  emerald 
places  it  in  the  front  rank.  This  and  the  emerald  are  the 
only  two  valuable  varieties  of  the  Beryl , the  emerald  being 
the  green,  and  the  aquamarine  the  bluish  beryl.  The  de- 
scriptive list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.7 

Hardness 7.7 

Silica 67  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  adamantine  to  vitreous ; clearness,  transparent ; 
color,  greenish- blue ; feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle,  but 
tough ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture, 
granular. 

Aquamarines  are  the  perfectly  transparent  varieties  of 
beryls,  the  emerald  being  translucent,  and  the  big,  coarse 
beryl  itself  being  opaque  to  sub-translucent.  There  are 
some  yellowish  and  some  whitish  varieties  which  are  nearly 
transparent,  but  they  don’t  rank  with  the  brilliant-colored 
blue  and  green  stones  as  gems. 

There  is  a tendency  in  aquamarines  towards  a double 
refraction  power  somewhat  similar  to  that  possessed  by  dia- 
monds, but  of  greatly  inferior  degree.  Aquamarines  are 
very  hard,  as  seen  by  the  point  given  in  the  description,  and 
they  will  cut  all  the  amethysts,  but  will  not  cut  topaz,  and 
are  not  acted  on  by  acids.  Aquamarines  are  found  scattered 
in  slate  rocks,  mostly  the  clay  slates  of  the  primary  forma- 
tions. 

CARNELIAN. 

This  is  what  all  the  beads  are  made  out  of,  and  it  is  a mem- 
ber of  the  chalcedonic  branch  of  the  quartz  family.  Its 
points  are : 

Gravity 2.6  I Silica 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 7.0  | 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  resinous;  clearness,  transparent  to 
translucent;  color,  various  shades  of  red  or  flesh  color; 


Alumina 19  p.  ct. 

Beryllia  (Glucina) 14  p.  ct. 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


147 


feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  none ; fracture, 
uneven  to  conchoidal ; texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

The  chalcedonic  condition  of  quartz  is  a very  peculiar 
one,  and  has  some  resemblance  to  clear  wax  or  resin.  There 
may  be  large  blocks  of  it,  all  of  massive  texture,  and  with- 
out a sign  of  a cleavage  line  or  surface  in  it.  Flint  and  horn- 
stone  are  chalcedonies  of  the  more  opaque  varieties. 

Carnelian  colors  are  not  the  same  in  Nature  as  they  are  in 
beads,  as  the  stones  out  of  which  the  beads  are  made  are  first 
subjected  to  several  days’  roasting  and  some  oiling,  all  of 
which  heightens  their  tints  very  greatly. 

The  operation  of  making  beads  is,  first,  smashing  the  rock, 
then  rounding  each  piece  by  the  abrasion  produced  by  roll- 
ing half  a ton  of  these  fragments  in  a rolling  barrel,  then 
separating  them  into  their  several  sizes  by  means  of  screens, 
then  drilling  the  holes,  then  rolling  them  in  smaller  barrels 
to  put  a polish  on  them,  then  boxing  up  the  assorted  sizes 
for  sale. 

CHRYSOBERYL. 

This  is  one  of  the  aluminous  crystals,  but  is  not  ranked  as 
high  as  the  sapphires,  rubies,  and  others.  Its  descriptive  list 
is  as  follows : 

Gravity 3.7  I Alumina ! 80  p.  ct. 

Hardness 8.5  | Glucina  (Beryllia) 20  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  transparent  to  translucent; 
color,  green,  in  many  shades ; feel,  smooth  ; elasticity  brittle ; 
cleavage,  distinct ; fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal ; texture, 
crystalline. 

Chrysoberyl  is  rarely  found  containing  only  alumina  and 
beryllia,  but  there  is  generally  a percentage  of  both  silica 
and  iron,  and  occasionally  a good  many  other  things  are 
mixed  in.  It  is  found  among  the  chrysolite  rocks  along 
with  corundum  and  the  other  aluminous  stones,  and  is  well 
worth  having,  for  it  is  a valued  gem.  Its  great  hardness  is 
its  ear-mark. 


148 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


CHRYSOPRASE. 

This  is  another  of  the  forms  taken  by  chalcedonic  quartz, 
and  it  ranks  among  the  lower  grade  of  gems.  Its  descrip- 
tive list  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 2.6  I Silica 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 7.0 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  resinous;  clearness,  transparent  to 
translucent ; color,  apple-green ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity, 
brittle ; cleavage,  none ; fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal ; 
texture,  crystalline. 

This  is  substantially  the  same  thing  as  carnelian,  but 
differs  in  color,  owing  to  the  presence  of  minute  amounts 
of  nickel.  Some  stones  of  this  variety  are  very  beautiful 
and  highly  valued. 

DIAMOND. 

Here  we  have  carbon  again,  and  it  is  but  natural  that  we 
should  value  more  highly  than  any  other  snbstance  this 
purest  form  of  that  greatest  mineral  which  enters  so  largely 
into  the  life,  health  and  comfort  of  all  animated  nature, 
and  from  wnose  oxidation  is  derived  all  the  heat,  light  and 
other  energies  which  design,  construct  and  operate  all  our 
railroads,  steamsliips,  engines,  machinery,  and  everything 
else  worth  having  in  this  world.  The  descriptive  list  of 
diamond  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 3.5  I Carbon 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 10.0  | Value 1,000  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  adamantine ; clearness,  transparent ; color,  color- 
less to  white ; feel,  smooth  and  consoling ; elasticity,  tough, 
brittle;  cleavage,  perfect,  eminent;  fracture,  conchoidal; 
texture,  crystalline. 

Before  going  any  further  we  want  to  state  that  when  a 
suspected  stone  is  found  to  agree  with  the  description  in 
the  matters  of  gravity,  hardness,  lustre,  clearness,  color, 
feel  and  apparent  texture,  it  should  be  sent  to  an  expert  at 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


149 


once,  without  attempting  to  apply  the  tests  of  elasticity, 
cleavage  and  fracture.  A diamond  will  crack  and  break 
up  like  any  other  pebble,  but  the  cracking  will  reduce  a 
thousand-dollar  diamond  into  worthless  fragments,  although 
the  rural  wiseacres  do  say  that  you  can’t  break  a diamond. 

The  crystal  of  the  diamond  is  mostly  an  octahedron, 
more  or  less  perfect  or  distorted.  A true  octahedron  is 
built  of  two  four-sided  pyramids  joined  together,  base  to 
base,  thus  leaving  eight  triangular-shaped  facets  exposed. 
Other  crystals  take  this  form  also,  but  the  diamond  is 
distinguished  from  all  others  by  the  feature  that  these  facets 
are  always  ‘‘fulled  up”  and  convex,  never  flat  or  concave 
or  hollow.  This  makes  the  edges  of  the  diamond  crystal 
rather  rounded  and  blunt,  while  all  other  crystals  have 
sharp  edges.  Tf  a diamond  crystal  has  been  broken,  one 
part  will  show  a hollow,  fractured  surface,  while  the  other 
part  will  be  convex,  fitting  into  the  concavity  of  the  first 
part. 

Diamonds  are  mostly  found  imbedded  in  clay,  sand,  slate 
or  shale.  When  found  in  the  sands  of  gold  washings  in 
stream  beds,  the  operation  of  washing  them  must  be  a much 
more  delicate  one  than  gold  washing,  as  the  difference  in 
specific  gravity  is  so  much  less  between  diamond  and  quartz 
than  between  gold  and  quartz.  There  are  also  many  other 
pebbles  than  quartz  pebbles,  and  they  are  often  of  greater 
weight  than  the  quartz,  so  that  the  probability  of  losing  the 
diamonds  over  the  edge  of  the  pan,  unrecognized,  is  greater 
than  that  of  losing  gold. 

The  Brazilian  diamonds  are  found  in  a stratum  of  what  is 
called  “ cement  ” in  California,  and  which  is  a mass  of  peb- 
bles and  fragments  of  pebbles  of  quartz,  mixed  with  smaller 
gravels  and  sands,  and  all  cemented  by  a red  ferruginous 
clay.  This  forms  layers  and  deposits  on  the  bed  rock  of 
the  streams,  and  often  extends  out  under  the  bottom  lands. 
In  Brazil  it  contains  diamonds,  gold,  platinum,  and  many 
other  odds  and  ends  of  minerals,  but  in  California  it 
is  only  worked  for  gold,  while  the  diamonds,  if  there  are 
any.  get  away  unseen. 


150 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


In  South  Africa  diamonds  are  found  in  the  stream  beds 
of  several  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  and  are  also  found 
embedded  in  a mixed-up  mess  of  hardened  calcareous  clay, 
pebbles,  and  all  sorts  of  minerals,  which  fill  up  great  crater- 
like cavities  in  the  primary  slate  beds  of  the  region.  The 
calcareous  shale  has  not  only  its  own  proper  dose  of  car- 
bonic acid  as  part  of  the  carbonate  of  lime,  but  there  is  also 
a permeation  or  impregnation  of  bitumen  in  the  shale,  and— 
from  these  sources  of  carbon  the  diamonds  appear  to  have 
crystallized. 

In  the  United  States  a few  diamonds  have  been  found. 
Some  small  ones  have  been  recognized  by  the  gold  miners 
in  California,  but  they  have  been  considered  more  in  the 
light  of  a joke  than  otherwise,  and  given  away,  as  they 
interfered  with  the  regular  business  of  gold  mining,  just  as 
the  fisherman  threw  away  his  trout,  and  said  that  “ when  he 
went  a catting,  he  went  a catting.”  Some  few  small  finds  of 
diamonds  are  also  reported  in  Oregon,  Idaho,  New  Mexico, 
and  Colorado,  but  so  far  nothing  of  much  significance  has 
come  out  of  them. 

There  is  a formation  of  flexible  sandstone  or  quartzite, 
which  ranges  from  Georgia  well  up  into  North  Carolina,  and 
which  is  properly  called  itacolumite,  and  it  is  of  the  same 
nature  as  a stone  found  near  the  ferruginous  cement  of  the 
Brazilian  diamond  field.  There  have  been  some  diamonds 
found  here  and  there  along  the  line  of  this  itacolumite  in 
Georgia  and  Carolina,  and  there  are  good  reasons  for  think- 
ing that  proper  search  would  develop  an  Appalachian  dia- 
mond field  as  a little  sister  to  the  great  coal  field  of  that 
name  There  have  also  been  two  or  three  diamonds  found 
on  James  River,  near  Richmond,  which  may  have  something 
to  do  with  that  vein  of  natural  coke  mentioned  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Coal. 

The  valuation  of  diamonds  is  entirely  arbitrary,  and  de- 
pends on  many  considerations.  Among  them  is  the  purity 
or  “water”  of  the  stone.  If  it  is  perfectly  limpid,  like  a 
drop  of  the  purest  water,  it  is  classed  as  of  the  first  water. 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


151 


Then  its  color  comes  next,  and  if  it  is  colorless  it  ranks 
highest.  The  whitish  stones  rank  next ; the  merest  tinge  or 
suspicion  of  green  or  blue  rather  heightens  the  rank  of  the 
white  stones.  The  rose  diamond  comes  next,  and  after  that 
come  the  yellow  or  amber  colors,  but  they  must  all  be  per- 
fect in  “water”  and  flawless  to  rank  among  the  first  or 
royal  class.  The  state  of  the  market  is  another  factor  in  the 
price  of  diamonds.  If  people  are  feeling  rich  and  prosper- 
ous diamonds  are  in  demand  and  bring  high  prices.  If 
people  are  feeling  poor  and  hard  pressed  they  want  no  dia- 
monds in  theirs,  unless  they  come  as  testimonials  of  regard, 
so  to  speak,  or  some  other  way. 

Among  diamonds  only  about  one  in  ten  is  royal,  the  others 
being  black,  or  more  or  less  colored.  These  inferior  stones 
are  called  Bort  or  Garbonites , and  are  in  great  demand  to  put 
in  as  cutters  in  diamond  drills,  and  to  make  diamond  dust 
for  cutting  and  polishing.  They  are  not  to  be  despised  on 
account  of  race  or  color,  as  they  bring  good  prices  for  these 
uses.  Anything  that  will  cut  quartz  should  be  looked  into. 

EMERALD. 

The  emerald  is  the  translucent  or  sub- transparent  and 
green  variety  of  the  beryl,  just  as  aquamarine  is  the  trans- 
parent and  blue  variety,  but  the  emerald  is  very  much,  more 
highly  prized  than  the  aquamarine.  Emerald  is  thus  de- 
scribed : 

Gravity 2.7  Alumina 19  p.  ct. 

Hardness 7.5  Glucina  (Beryllia) 14  p.  ct. 

Silica 67  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  adamantine  to  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent, 
sub* transparent ; color,  rich  green ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity, 
brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  crys- 
talline. 

The  coloring  of  emerald  is  due  to  chromic  acid  in  small 
percentage.  Emeralds  rank  next  in  value  to  the  diamond, 
ruby,  and  finer  sapphire.  One  of  four  grains  is  estimated 
at  thirty  dollars.  Eight-grain  stones  are  worth  seventy-five 


152 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


dollars,  and  sixteen-grain,  perfect  specimens,  have  sold  at 
five  hundred  dollars. 

Emeralds  are  found  among  the  gravels  of  the  rivers  and 
streams  in  the  gold  regions,  and  in  pockets  in  clay  slates  in 
the  primary  formations.  A report  has  been  made  by  a trav- 
eling mineralogist  that  the  South  American  emeralds  are  con- 
tained in  lime  concretions  containing  also  fossils  of  Creta- 
ceous age,  and  he  maybe  right.  Emeralds  in  rocks  and  pockets 
are  so  coated  over  as  to  be  unrecognizable  until  tested. 

Oriental  Emerald  is  the  green  sapphire,  and  is  considered 
very  valuable  on  account  of  its  great  rarity  as  well  as  its 
great  beauty. 

GARNET. 

Garnet  is  nearly  a noun  of  multitude,  for  there  are  many 
garnets.  W e will  describe  those  coming  under  the  head  of 
precious  garnets : 

Gravity 4.1 

Hardness 7.0 

Silica 36  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  resinous;  clearness,  transparent;  color, 
red ; feel,  smoothish ; elasticity,  brittle  and  tough ; cleavage, 
distinct ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  crystalline. 

Tfiis  is  the  precious  garnet  known  to  the  jewelers,  and  its 
value  depends  altogether  on  its  looks,  for  it  has  been  known 
to  register  itself  as  a ruby  and  get  sold  as  such. 

There  is  a large  number  of  other  garnets  of  different  com- 
position from  the  above,  and  about  the  only  use  they  are  to 
man  is  to  act  as  a cutting  powder  in  place  of  emery.  They 
are  pulverized  and  sold  as  emery  powder  extensively. 

Garnets  are  found  in  all  kinds  of  pockets  and  veins  in  any 
of  the  primary  formations. 

HYACINTH. 

This  is  really  a garnet,  but  it  sells  higher  when  set  on  a 
pedestal  of  its  own,  so  the  jewelers  are  gradually  differenti- 
ating it  and  suppressing  all  mention  of  its  relationship  to 
garnet.  Its  points  are : 


Alumina 31  p.  ct. 

Iron 43  p.  ct. 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


153 


Gravity 3.6  Alumina 23  p.  ct. 

Hardness 7.3  Lime 37  p.  ct. 

Silica 40  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  resinous,  vitreous;  clearness,  transparent;  color, 
yellow,  red,  brown;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  tough  and 
brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; texture,  crystalline. 

This  stone  is  also  called  Cinnamon  Stone , particularly  the 
brownish  varieties.  It  is  found  along  with  other  garnets. 
Another  variety  of  this  garnet  is  called  Oumromte , and  is 
emerald  green  by  reason  of  the  substitution  of  a little 
chrome  replacing  part  of  the  alumina. 

There  is  some  reason  for  the  jewelers’  attempt  to  set  up 
hyacinth  by  itself,  because  there  is  another  hyacinth,  belong- 
ing to  the  tribe  of  the  Zircons.  It  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.6  | Silica 33  p.  ct. 

Hardness 7.5  | Zirconia 67  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  adamantine;  clearness,  transparent; 
color,  yellow,  red,  brown;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  tough 
and  brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; text- 
ure, crystalline. 

This  hyacinth  is  a little  harder  and  one-fourth  heavier 
than  the  garnet  hyacinth,  and  its  lustre  is  more  brilliant. 
Altogether,  its  intrinsic  qualities  are  such  as  to  rank  it 
higher  than  the  garnets,  but  the  market  rates  it  lower. 

Zircons  and  garnets  are  found  often  in  the  same  places, 
and  are  often  mistaken  for  each  other.  You  can  often  pick 
up  a hatful  of  crystals,  none  bigger  than  duck-shot,  and  all 
of  the  less  valuable  kinds,  in  a stream  bed  with  no  good  ones. 

JASPER. 

Jasper  is  simply  quartz  tinted  with  iron  oxides,  and  it 
rarely  amounts  to  enough  importance  to  be  ranked  as  a 
precious  stone.  It  has  been  used  as  a material  with  which 
walls  were  inlaid  in  very  olden  times;  and  it  has  been  stated, 
in  so-called  sacred  writings  of  some  nations,  that  the  heavens 
were  made  of  jasper;  but  there  is  something  suspicious 
about  the  fact  that  jasper  is  also  the  name  of  the  living 


154 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


block  of  ebonite,  in  Richmond,  which  preaches  that  the 
“ Sun  do  move.”  This  mineral  is  getting  us  into  “ company,” 
so  we  will  drop  it. 

LAZULITE. 

This  is  also  called  Blue  Spar , and  its  descriptive  list  is  as 
follows : 

Gravity 3.0  I Alumina 34  p.  ct. 

Hardness 5.5  Magnesia 13  p.  ct. 

Phosphoric  Acid 47  p.  ct.  | Water 6 p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent ; color,  deep-blue  ; 
feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  slight ; fracture, 
uneven  ; texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

Like  all  other  minerals,  this  has  its  fine  and  coarse 
varieties,  the  fine  ones  being  valued,  more  or  less,  for 
jewelers’  purposes ; and  the  coarser  ones,  when  plentiful, 
being  in  some  demand  as  sources  of  phosphoric  acid. 

Lazulites  are  found  among  the  primary  rocks,  especially 
among*  the  slates. 

MEERSCHAUM. 

Of  course  the  ornamental  sex  will  object  to  our  classing 
this  among  precious  stones,  and  will  repeat  their  standing 
joke  about  meerschaum  being  mere  sham,  and  all  that,  but 
we,  knowing  its  extreme  preciosity,  can  smile  grandly  at 
their  ignorance  of  true  value,  and  preserve  our  equilibrium 
of  unruffled  peace  of  mind  by  re-lighting  our  pipe.  Here  is 
what  it  is  made  of.  Hydrous  silicate  of  magnesia  : 

Gravity.... 0.8  Magnesia 27  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.0  Water 12  p.  ct. 

Silica 61  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  refined  earthy ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  that  of 
rich,  delicate  cream  ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle  to  sec- 
tile  ; cleavage,  none ; fracture,  flat  to  conchoidal ; texture, 
superfinely  massive. 

The  few  chemists  who  are  not  smokers  have  had  the 
temerity  to  name  this  mineral  Sepiolite)  but  they  are  only 
postponing  their  day  of  smoking.  The  word  meerschaum 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


155 


means  sea  foam,  and  the  mineral  was  so  named  because  it 
was  first  found  floating  as  sea  foam  on  the  coasts  of  Turkey, 
where  the  surf  washed  against  a bank  of  the  pure  mineral 
itself  and  washed  it  into  the  sea.  Being  lighter  than  water, 
it  floated  and  ground  itself  into  a foam-like  consistence. 
The  Turks  gathered  and  compressed  it  and  carved  it  into  pipe 
bowls,  and  with  their  usual  sagacity  they  avoided  the  rock 
bed  of  the  mineral,  and  declared  it  was  hardened  sea  foam. 

For  some  occult  reason  Providence  has  tolerated  the  exist- 
ence at  various  times  of  men  who  have  devoted  their  time 
and  so-called  brains  to  the  manufacture  of  an  artificial 
meerschaum,  but  they  have  uniformly  met  with  such 
failure  as  they  deserved.  One  fiend,  in  New  York,  tried  to 
produce  a pure  silicate  of  magnesia,  cementing  tripoli,  after 
Ransome’s  artificial  stone  fashion  of  cementing  sand  or 
marble  dust,  by  means  of  a true  silicate  of  lime.  He  mixed 
tripoli  with  silicate  of  soda  and  modeled  it  into  pipe  bowls, 
then  bathed  it  in  chloride  of  magnesia  to  effect  a double 
decomposition,  intending  to  wash  out  the  resulting  chloride 
of  sodium,  but  somehow  he  failed  to  connect. 

Meerschaum  is  to  be  looked  for  among  the  talcose  rocks, 
as  these  are  allied  mineral  species — magnesium  silicates. 
Meerschaum  is  undoubtedly  derived  from  them,  but  how 
it  got  to  be  so  very  light  and  with  such  minute  pores  all 
through  it  is  one  of  those  things  “ no  fellow  has  found  it.” 
This  excessive  lightness  and  porosity  constitute  the  chief 
portion  of  its  value,  and  secures  it  against  any  successful 
attempt  to  counterfeit  it. 

Meerschaum  has  a number  of  cousins,  but  they  are  all 
“ poor  relations.”  Aphrodite  is  the  best  of  the  lot ; Smectite 
is  another.  Cldoropal  is  a greenish  species,  but  none  of  them 
come  up  to  the  true  mineral  in  its  specialties.  Hunt  for  it. 

ONYX. 

Onyx  is  quartz  in  the  chalcedonic  condition,  and  is  con- 
structed in  films  and  layers  of  different  colors,  like  agate, 
but  these  films  in  onyx  are  laid  down  flat,  whereas  in  agate 


156 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


they  are  in  consecutive  skins,  like  the  peelings  of  an  onion. 
The  gravity,  hardness,  composition,  etc.,  of  onyx  are  the 
same  as  those  of  agate,  and  we  will  not  repeat  them. 

The  value  of  onyx  is  in  the  fact  that  its  films  of  color  are 
so  thin  that  it  can  he  cut  in  cameo,  portions  of  the  figure 
being  of  one  film  and  color,  while  other  portions  are  cut 
through  to  deeper  films  and  colors.  The  choice  colors  in 
true  onyx  are  white,  black  and  brown,  while  a variety  called 
Sardonyx  has  also  a film  of  carnelian  red. 

QPAL. 

This  is  quartz  also,  but  it  has  some  water  in  it,  which  pro- 
duces decided  results  in  decreasing  weight  and  hardness, 
and  otherwise.  Its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.2  I Silica » 85  to  97  p.  ct. 

Hardness 6.0  | Water 15  to  3 p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  pearly,  opaline;  clearness,  transparent; 
color,  white,  pale,  yellow,  gray,  green,  red;  feel,  smooth; 
elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  even  to  con- 
choidal ; texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

The  peculiarity  upon  which  the  value  of  opal  chiefly  de- 
pends is  its  power  of  exhibiting  a wonderful  play  of  colors 
as  it  is  turned  to  various  angles  with  the  light.  The  most 
remarkable  is  the  Fire  Opal , which  displays  all  the  colors  of 
fire-works  in  successive  flashes  when  turned.  Precious  Opal 
seems  to  be  the  very  finest  and  most  delicately  shaded  and 
tinted  of  the  fire  opals.  Like  chalcedonic  quartz,  this 
hydrous  quartz  has  its  agate-formed  stone  also.  It  is  made 
up  of  concentric  films  and  layers  of  various  colored  opal, 
and  is  called  Opal  Agate ; the  well-known  cat’s  eye  is  one 
of  these. 

There  is  a Jasper  Opal  which  is  reddish  and  of  not  much 
value  or  beauty,  and  there  is  Float  Stone,  made  up  of  opal  in 
a very  porous  condition,  looking  much  like  a lustrous  pumice 
stone,  and  so  ligli  as  to  float  on  water.  The  shells  of  the 
diatoms  and  other  silicious  infusoria  seem  to  be  of  silica  in 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


157 


the  opaline  condition,  and  for  this  reason  tripoli  is  not  hard 
enough  to  do  much  in  polishing  quartz  crystals. 

The  silicious  deposits  around  what  are  called  petrifying 
springs  are  of  opaline  quartz,  and  wood  thus  petrified  be- 
comes wood  opal. 

Opal  is  found  almost  anywhere  that  quartz  is  found,  but 
the  valuable  opals  are  very  scarce.  Some  are  occasionally 
found  among  the  tripoli  beds,  and  they  have  been  found  in 
cavities  in  limestone,  just  as  flint  is  so  found. 

RUBY. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  ruby,  both  of  great  value  as  gems. 
These  are  the  Spinel  Ruby  and  the  sapphire  ruby,  and  we 
will  first  describe  the  spinel,  as  follows  : 

Gravity 3.5  Magnesia 12  p.  ct. 

Hardness 8.0  Chromic  Acid 3 p.  ct. 

Alumina 85  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  splendent,  vitreous  ; clearness,  transparent ; color, 
light,  medium  or  dark-red ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  tough 
but  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; texture, 
crystalline  and  octahedral,  with  points  and  edges  cut  off 
square,  or  nearly  so. 

This  ruby  is  found  generally  in  localities  where  serpentine 
and  marbles  or  other  limestones  are  the  country  rocks,  and 
it  is  often  found  among  the  water-worn  pebbles  in  the 
stream  beds. 

The  Sapphire  Ruby  is  described  as  follows : 

Gravity  4.0  I Alumina 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 9.0  Chromic  Acid trace. 

Lustre,  splendent,  vitreous ; clearness,  transparent ; color, 
light,  medium  or  dark-red ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  tough, 
brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  conchoidal;  texture, 
crystalline,  hexagonal. 

This  and  all  other  sapphires  are  pure  crystalline  corun- 
dum, with  a tinge  of  some  coloring  matter  thrown  in.  The 
spinel  and  sapphire,  or  Oriental  Ruby , as  it  is  called,  are 


158 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


difficult  to  distinguish  from  each  other.  The  item  of  hard- 
ness affords  the  best  test  short  of  a chemical  analysis,  as  the 
weight  of  the  spinel  often  varies  by  reason  of  the  presence 
of  iron.  The  beauty  of  the  stone  is  what  names  the  price 
regardless  of  the  constituents,  unless  the  parties  have 
prejudices  in  favor  of  either  spinel  or  oriental.  As  a gen- 
eral  thing,  oriental  stones  are  most  valuable,  and  spinel  of 
equal  beauty  is  handicapped  by  reputation. 

Oriental  rubies  of  the  very  finest  qualities  are  more  valua- 
ble than  diamonds  of  the  same  weight.  The  English  prices 
for  cut  stones  are  about  eighty  dollars  for  a one-carat  stone, 
three  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  for  two  carats,  eleven  to 
twelve  hundred  dollars  for  three  carats,  two  thousand  for 
four  carat  stones,  and  so  on.  This  stone  is  to  be  looked  for 
in  the  stream  beds  and  other  places  wherever  corundum  or 
emery  occur. 

SAPPHIRE. 

These  stones  come  in  many  colors  from  Nature’s  labora- 
tory, but  the  one  labeled  sapphire  in  the  jewelers’  vernacular 
is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.0  I Alumina 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 9.0  | Cobalt * trace. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  splendent ; clearness,  transparent ; color, 
azure,  celestial,  etc.,  blue;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  tough  but 
brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  conchoidal;  texture, 
cyrstalline,  crystals,  hexagonal  or  double  hex. 

Sapphires  are  to  be  looked  for  in  the  same  localities  as 
ruby,  corundum  and  emery.  Neither  ruby  nor  any  of  the 
other  kinds  of  sapphire  are  very  attractive  in  appearance 
wrhen  found  wild,  and  when  suspiciously  heavy  pebbles  are 
picked  up  they  should  always  be  tried  to  see  whether  they 
will  scratch  a piece  of  quartz  crystal.  If  they  do  so,  they 
should  be  preserved  and  sent  to  a chemist  or  reliable 
jeweler  for  examination. 

Sapphires  of  most  celestial  hue  and  all  the  other  good 
qualities  are  only  worth  about  one-fourth  as  much  as  the 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


159 


oriental  rubies  of  same  size,  but  still  they  are  worth  pick- 
ing up.  At  a recent  meeting  of  a scientific  asssociation, 
in  Berlin,  an  escort  of  soldiers  brought  in  for  exhibition  a 
sapphire,  which,  according  to  the  scales  and  rules  of  esti- 
mation, was  worth  sixteen  millions  of  dollars.  It  weighed 
fifteen  ounces,  and  was  declared  to  be  at  least  a “prince’s 
ransom,”  by  some  enthusiastic  royalist.  There  were  other 
members  of  the  association  who  thought  that  any  nation 
which  would  pay  sixteen  millions  of  dollars  for  either  an 
ornamental  stone  or  an  ornamental  prince  had  better  spend 
all  the  rest  of  their  money  in  lunatic  asylums.  Another 
member  thought  the  sixteen  millions  was  a small  price  to 
pay  for  getting  rid  of  some  kings  and  princes  he  knew  of. 

Yellow  sapphires  are  called  Oriental  Topaz,  green  ones 
Oriental  Emerald , and  violet  ones  Oriental  Amethyst . 

TOPAZ. 

Topaz  is  described  as  follows : 

Gravity 3.5  I Aluminum 30  p.  ct. 

Hardness 8.0  Fluorine 20  p.  ct. 

Silicon  15  p.  ct.  | Oxygen 35  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  splendent ; clearness,  transparent ; color, 
yellow;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle,  tough;  cleavage, 
perfect ; fracture,  uneven  ; texture,  crystalline. 

This  is  the  precious  topaz.  There  are  other  varieties  which 
are  colored  greenish,  bluish  or  reddish,  and  some  even  are 
perfectly  colorless.  When  these  various  colors  are  in  stones 
that  are  entirely  transparent  and  otherwise  perfect  they  have 
a high  value  also,  for  they  are  sold  as  rubies,  sapphires  and 
diamonds  to  the  inexperienced,  who  too  often  rely  on  their 
own  judgment  and  buy  things  on  their  good  looks. 

The  great  trouble  with  topaz  is  that  it  is  generally  clouded 
and  only  translucent,  so  that  it  can  only  be  used  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  polishing  powders-.  It  is  the  same  hardness  as 
spinel  ruby  and  will  cut  all  quartz  crystals. 

Topaz  changes  color  under  a moderate  application  of  heat, 
and  thus  changes  in  its  value  can  be  brought  about.  The 


160 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


clear  yellow  quartz  is  sometimes  called  False  Topaz,  and 
yellow  sapphires  are  Oriental  Topaz.  Topaz  is  found  in  the 
primary  formations,  especially  among  micaceous  rocks  and  in 
the  stream  beds  of  micaceous  districts. 

TOURMALINE. 


Tourmaline  in  some  of  its  varieties  is  valued  as  a gem, 
and  is  described  as  follows : 


Gravity 3.1 

Hardness... 7.8 

Silica 35  p.  ct. 

Alumina 85  p.  ct. 


Boric  Acid 10  p.  ct. 

Iron  Oxide 8 p.  ct. 

Magnesia 5 p ct. 

Water,  Lithia,  etc 7 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  transparent;  color,  yellow, 
red,  green,  blue;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage, 
not  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  crystalline,  in  crystals 
of  three,  six,  nine  and  twelve  sides — always  a multiple  of 
three. 

The  clear,  rich-colored  stones  are  valued  highly.  The  red 
is  called  Rubellite , and  is  often  passed  off  for  ruby.  The 
yellow  is  sold  for  topaz,  and  some  amber  and  honey-colored 
yellow  tourmalines  are  among  the  most  beautiful  gems  in 
existence.  Black  and  blue  tourmalines  in  long,  slender 
three-sided  crystals  bring  good  prices  as  cabinet  specimens. 

Tourmaline  becomes  electric  when  heated,  and  the  trans- 
parent crystals  have  the  property  of  polarizing  light.  It  is 
found  in  the  primary  formations  among  the  more  mica- 
ceous rocks  and  slates,  and  among  the  crystalline  limestones 
and  dolomites.  Sometimes  a mass  of  rock,  several  pounds 
in  weight,  will  have  forty  or  fifty  spikes  of  black  tourma- 
line passing  through  it  in  parallel  lines. 

TURQUOISE. 


This  mineral  is  described  as  follows: 


Gravity 2.7 

Hardness  6.0 

Alumina 47  p.  ct. 


Phosphoric  Acid S3  p.  ct. 

Water 20  p.  ct. 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


161 


Lustre,  resinous;  clearness,  opaque;  color,  blue-green; 
feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  none;  fracture, 
sub-conchoidal ; texture,  crystalline. 

This  stone  is  found  with  kaolin  and  other  higlily-alumin- 
ous  clays,  and  with  the  clay  slates  and  shales  of  the  primary 
formations.  It  is  generally  decomposed  on  the  outside,  and 
looks  like  a lump  of  kaolin.  Veins  containing  much  alum- 
inous mineral,  as  gangue  rock,  are  the  best  prospect.  The 
old  Aztecs  valued  this  gem  very  highly,  and  got  it  mostly 
from  New  Mexico,  where  their  old  pits  are  now  being  re- 
opened. The  Old  World  is  supplied  with  turquoise  from 
mines  in  Southeast  Persia,  worked  for  thousands  of  years. 

ULTRAMARINE. 


This  is  also  called  Lapis  Lazuli , and  its  points  are : 


Gravity 2.5 

Hardness 5.8 

Silica 45  p.  ct. 


Alumina 32  p.  ct. 

Soda  and  Lime 15  p.  ct. 

Sulphur,  Iron,  etc 8 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent ; color,  bright  blue 
to  green;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  distinct; 
fracture,  conchoidal;  texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  is  a much-valued  gem,  and  is  used  in  brooches  and 
other  ornaments  which  are  of  such  shape  as  to  utilize  slab- 
shaped blocks.  It  is  also  used  for  all  sorts  of  expensive 
inlaid  work  in  mosaics  and  the  finest  ornamental  carvings. 
This  mineral  is  to  be  looked  for  among  the  granites  and 
other  primary  rocks,  particularly  the  marbles.  It  also  occurs 
among  the  limestones  of  the  lower  secondaries. 

It  takes  its  name  from  the  lovely  blue  color  of  the  paint 
which  is  made  by  pulverizing  and  triturating  selected  pieces 
of  this  mineral.  Ultramarine  ranks  higher  with  the  artists 
than  aquamarine  as  a color,  but  aquamarine  is  the  most  valu- 
able as  a gem. 

JADE. 


This  is  nephrite  or  kidney  stone,  and  after  it  is  carved  by 
the  Chinese  and  other  Pagans  into  images  of  Beelzebub,  and 


162 


GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 


other  mighty  personages,  it  becomes  a precious  stone.  Its 
points  are : 

Gravity 3.0  Magnesia 30  p.  ct. 

Hardness 6.3  Lime 15  p.  ct. 

Silica 55  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  glistening ; clearness,  semi-translucent  to 
opaque;  color,  white  to  gray,  tinged  with  blue  or  green; 
feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle  to  tough;  cleavage,  imper- 
fect ; fracture,  uneven,  splintery ; texture,  compact,  massive. 

This  is  a silicate  of  lime  and  magnesia,  and  is  a member  of 
the  hornblende  series.  It  is  found  in  slabs  or  chunks  among 
the  hornblendic  rocks,  talcose  slates,  &c.,  and  is  well  worth 
collecting  for  carving  purposes,  cabinet  specimens,  &c. 


XI. 

ORNAMENTAL  and  BUILDING  STONES, 


Serpentine  — Malachite  — Mexican  Onyx  — Marble — 
Limestone — Sandstone — Slate — Granite- 
Syenite — Gneiss — Porphyry. 


serpentine. 

Other  members  of  this  group  are  Bastiie , Cerolite , Gymmite , 
Marmolite.  The  points  on  serpentine  are  : 

Gravity . .2.5  to  2.8  Magnesia 43  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.0  to  3.7  Water 13  p.  ct. 

Silica 44  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  pearly ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color, 
green  ; feel,  smooth  to  harsh ; elasticity,  flexible  to  brittle ; 
cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular. 

Serpentine  is  very  abundant  among  the  primary  rocks, 
and  amounts  to  an  eruptive  rock  all  by  itself,  showing  in 
dykes  and  round-backed  ridges  and  hills.  It  is  much  in 
favor  as  a fancy  building  stone,  and  properly  handled  it 
produces  very  fine  architectural  effect.  When  very  bright 
green  and  capable  of  taking  high  polish  it  is  much  used 
for  mantels  and  other  interior  work,  and  is  called  “ precious  ” 
serpentine.  When  it  is  streaked  with  magnesian  marble  it 
is  called  ‘‘Verde  Antique,”  and  will  be  referred  to  further 
along  in  this  book. 


164  ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES. 


MALACHITE. 

This  is  copper  carbonate,  and  its  descriptive  list  is  as 
follows : 

Gravity 3.9  Carbonic  Acid 30  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.8  Water 8 p.  ct. 

Copper  Oxide 73  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous,  adamantine ; clearness,  translucent ; 
color,  green ; feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
perfect ; fracture,  conchoidal,  uneven ; texture,  massive, 
crystalline. 

This  is  always  found  with  the  other  copper  ores,  and 
when  it  is  not  sufficiently  brilliant  and  rich  in  coloring  and 
figure  to  be  used  as  a gem,  or  as  a material  for  inlaid  work, 
or  for  table-tops,  Chinese  vases  or  devils  or  other  devices, 
it  is  not  a loss  by  any  means,  for  it  is  a most  valuable  ore 
of  copper.  The  green  color  has  an  oily  look  about  it,  and 
is  very  much  broken  up  into  rounded  figures,  giving  a 
pleasing  variety.  Perfect  malachite,  capable  of  being  cut 
into  slabs,  is  very  valuable. 

There  is  a blue  variety  of  this  mineral  which  is  usually 
called  Azurite  and  contains  a few  per  cent,  less  copper  and 
water,  and  a few  more  of  carbonic  acid.  It  is  generally 
found  as  an  associate  of  malachite,  and  when  perfect  in 
color,  figure  and  brilliancy,  it  is  fully  as  valuable.  These 
ores  are  to  be  hunted  for  among  any  or  all  copper-bearing 
rocks,  and  are  nearly  always  associated  with  other  copper 
ores. 

MEXICAN  ONYX. 

This  is  not  a true  onyx,  as  this  is  calcium  carbonate,  and 
onyx  is  silica  or  quartz.  The  descriptive  list  of  Mexican 
onyx  is  as  follows: 

Gravity 3 8 I Lime..... 56  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.0  Carbonic  Acid 44  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  waxy;  clearness,  translucent;  color, 
greenish-wliite,  permeated  with  veins  of  all  colors;  feel, 


ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES.  165 


harsh  ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  conch- 
oidal ; texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

This  stone  is  a deposition  of  calcite,  mixed  with  impuri- 
ties, from  the  water  of  limestone  springs  or  streams  or 
lakes.  As  mentioned  among  marbles,  the  stalagmites  and 
stalactites  of  wet  caverns  are  examples  of  this  deposition  in 
crystalline  form,  and  the  writer  has  had  carved  lovely  paper 
weights,  inkstands  and  pipe  bowls  from  selected  stalactite 
materials. 

The  veins  and  their  fibres  found  in  the  stone  are  due  to 
dust  or  other  colored  substance  getting  on  the  surface  of 
the  growing  stone,  either  through  accidental  deposit,  or  by 
solution  of  iron  or  other  coloring  mineral  in  the  rocks  above 
getting  into  the  limestone  water.  The  stone  is  found  in 
Mexico  and  in  many  other  places  in  such  position  as  to  indi- 
cate that  it  was  the  precipitation  of  calcite  out  of  the  calm 
waters  of  a lake.  Other  deposits  are  in  fissures  or  veins  or 
caves  in  limestone  rocks,  which  fissures,  etc.,  have  been  filled 
thus  in  past  ages. 

MARBLE. 

There  are  two  principal  marbles,  and  one  intermediate 
between  these  two.  These  are : the  lime  marble  composed  of 
the  mineral  Calcite , the  magnesian  marble  composed  of  the 
mineral  Magnesite,  and  the-  intermediate  and  most  common 
marble  composed  of  the  mineral  Dolomite . The  description 
of  calcite  is  as  follows : 

Gravity ..2.5  to  2.8  I Lime 56  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.7  to  3.3  Carbonic  Acid .44  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  sub-vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white; 
feel,  meagre  to  rough ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; 
fracture,  conchoidal;  texture,  crystalline,  granular. 

This  mineral  is  the  basis  of  all  the  lime,  marbles,  chalks, 
marls  and  limestones.  The  only  reasons  that  these  are  not 
all  clearly  defined  crystals  are  that  they  contain  impurities 
which  render  them  more  or  less  opaque,  and  that  they  were 
deposited  in  such  small  particles  that  they  appear  earthy  in 


166  ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES. 


texture,  although  the  particles  generally  are  seen  under  the 
microscope  to  be  crystalline  when  not  in  the  form  of  shells. 

The  mineral  magnesite  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.9  to  3.3  I Magnesia 47  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.7  to  4.4  Carbonic  Acid 53  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white; 
feel,  roughish ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture, 
conchoidal ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  mineral  is  ten  per  cent,  heavier  than  calcite,  and 
thirty  per  cent,  harder.  Another  point  of  difference  is  that 
magnesite  does  not  rapidly  effervesce  when  touched  by  cold 
nitric  or  sulphuric  acid,  while  calcite  fumes  and  bubbles 
actively. 

Dolomite  is  described  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.9  I Calcite 54  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.7  Magnesite 46  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white; 
feel,  rough;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect,  fracture, 
conchoidal ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

When  any  or  all  of  these  three  minerals  are  found  green- 
ish, yellowish,  bluish,  reddish,  or  any  other  color  than  white 
or  colorless,  it  is  because  of  the  presence  of  coloring  matter 
which  is  an  impurity,  strictly  speaking.  There  are  very 
many  methods  or  forms  of  crystallization,  but  none  of  them 
change  the  color  of  the  •pure  mineral. 

Sometimes  calcite  is  found  nearly  as  clear  and  colorless  as 
the  finest  diamond,  and  in  this  state  it  is  called  Iceland  Spar 
when  in  tabular  blocks,  or  Dog  Tooth  Spar  when  in  sharp- 
pointed  double-ended  crystals.  When  it  is  in  long  slender 
fibres  in  bunches  it  is  called  Satin  Spar. 

Stalagmite  is  the  material  deposited  on  the  floors  of  cav- 
erns by  the  crystallization  of  calcite  out  of  limestone  waters 
dripping  from  above,  and  Stalactite  is  the  spike  or  point  from 
which  the  water  drips.  These  forms  are  just  like  the  icicles 
at  the  top  and  bottom  of  a water-drip  in  freezing  weather. 


ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES.  167 

Sometimes  these  stalactites  and  stalagmites  continue  to  grow 
until  they  meet  and  form  columns  shaped  like  hour  glasses, 
at  first,  but  which  gradually  fill  out  until  they  join  up  with 
their  neighbors  and  fill  the  cavern  or  fissure  entirely. 

The  above  are  the  materials  of  which  the  marbles  are 
made.  They  make  up  differently  as  regards  structure,  how- 
ever. The  pure  calcite  makes  a fine-grained  white  marble  of 
great  purity  but  no  variety.  Parian  marble  is  composed  of 
minute  foliations  or  scales,  which  are  so  irregularly  placed  as 
to  seem  under  the  microscope  the  veriest  case  of  toss  and 
confusion  that  could  be  imagined,  yet  the  scales  are  so  small 
that  it  feels  smooth  as  glass  when  polished.  Carrara  marble 
is  in  minute  flattened  grains,  placed  criss-cross  and  every 
which  way,  but  no  one  would  suspect  it  when  looking  at  the 
exquisite  surface  of  the  finest  statuary  made  from  that  stone. 

Dolomitic  marble  is  more  translucent  than  calcite  marble, 
but  the  grains  and  crystals  are  much  larger,  and  appear  to 
be  star-rayed.  This  marble  also  loses  its  uniform  surface 
sooner  than  the  other,  and  becomes  rough  and  weather- 
beaten. The  calcite  marble,  however,  tarnishes  and  stains 
more  rapidly  than  the  dolomite. 

There  are  black  marbles  also,  and  some  of  these  have 
white  and  red  and  other  colored  veins  traversing  them,  but 
they  are  so  easily  counterfeited  by  what  is  called  marbleized 
iron  or  slate  that  they  are  going  out  of  fashion.  There  is  a 
fine  black  marble  in  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

Breccia  is  a stone  made  up  of  angular  fragments  of  marble 
embedded  in  a cement  of  the  same  material ; and  variegated 
marble  is  the  same  thing  except  that  the  fragments  are 
rounded  instead  of  being  angular.  The  coloring  of  the  frag- 
ments and  the  cement  of  course  vary  very  greatly.  We 
have  very  fine  beds  of  these  marbles  in  East  Tennessee,  and 
in  Maryland,  near  Washington,  called  calico  stone. 

Verde  Antique  is  a mixture  of  marble  and  serpentine,  the 
magnesian  marble  being  most  frequently  found  in  this  con- 
nection, as  the  serpentine  is  a magnesian  mineral  also.  The 
white  or  red  or  brownish  marble  alternates  in  veins  and 


168  ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES. 


coils  and  rosettes  with  the  brilliant  green  of  the  serpentine 
in  most  exquisite  fashion,  and  this  stone  is  very  highly 
valued  for  inlaid  and  other  ornamental  work  for  interior 
fittings. 

Lithographic  Stone  is  an  excessively  fine-grained,  sub- 
translucent,  slate-colored  or  yellowish  marble  that  is  nearly 
a limestone.  The  finer  varieties  of  oolite  and  other  fossil- 
iferous  limestones  are  often  polished  and  used  in  place  of 
the  real  crystalline  marbles. 

LIMESTONE. 

This  is  simply  the  re-deposited  debris  of  the  marbles  of 
the  primary  formation  supplemented  by  the  work  of  marine 
animals  and  vegetables  of  the  secondary  ages.  It  is  probable 
that  those  beds  in  which  the  most  fossils  are  found  are  the 
ones  formed  by  the  slow  building  of  the  infusoria  during 
secondary  times,  while  those  of  larger  grain  and  fewer  fossils 
may  have  been  made  of  materials  derived  from  washing 
down  the  primary  marbles.  This  latter  material  is  most  apt 
to  be  deposited  near  the  shore  line  of  the  ancient  seas,  and 
to  have  sand  and  clays  mixed  with  it ; while  the  limestone 
of  secondary  age  would  be  formed  in  deep,  still  water,  and 
would  thus  be  of  finest  grain  unmixed  with  anything  but 
fossils. 

The  limestone  known  as  oolite,  composed  of  fish  eggs 
about  the  size  of  small  homeopathic  globules,  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  building  stones  we  have. 

SANDSTONE. 

This  is  derived  from  the  primary  quartzite  which  has  been 
washed  down  and  deposited  in  new  beds  during  secondary 
times,  and  became  hardened  by  time  and  pressure.  The 
sandstones  are  found  in  beds  all  the  way  up,  at  intervals, 
throughout  the  whole  secondary  series,  and  the  sands  con- 
stitute at  least  three-fourths  of  all  the  mass  of  materials  in 
this  formation.  The  principal  differences  to  be  seen  among 
the  beds  are  variations  in  size  of  grain.  There  are  four 


ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES.  169 


great  plates  of  sandstone  between  the  top  of  the  primaries 
and  the  bottom  of  the  great  coal  measures.  The  Potsdam 
sandstone  lies  on  the  primaries  and  forms  the  crest  and  west- 
ern slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  Medina  sandstone  is  the 
second,  and  forms  the  crest  and  western  slope  of  North 
Mountain.  The  Oriskany  is  the  third  great  sandstone,  and 
forms  the  crest  and  western  slope  of  Capon  Mountain  and 
others  on  that  line  of  upheaval.  The  Millstone  Grit  is  the 
fourth  great  sandstone,  and  forms  the  base  of  the  coal 
measures^  The  Mahoning  sandstone  is  the  plate  that  divides 
the  coal  measures  into  upper  and  lower  coals. 

The  secondary  rocks  extend  westward  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  Rocky  mountains,  broken,  of  course,  where  the 
before-named  primary  upheavals  come  up  through,  but  the 
further  west  they  extend  the  thinner  they  get.  Rock  beds 
which  are  hundreds  of  feet  thick  in  the  Appalachian  moun- 
tains are  represented  in  Missouri  by  feather-edged  beds  of 
but  few  feet  in  thickness,  while  at  the  foot  of  the  Rockies 
many  of  the  beds  are  missing  altogether. 

There  are  detached  areas  of  secondary  rocks  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  which,  although  small,  are  of  great  value,  for 
these  areas  furnish  all  the  brown-stone  used  in  building  in 
New  York  and  other  cities  in  the  Eastern  States.  The 
stone  comes  from  the  triassic  beds  of  the  secondaries,  which 
are  found  in  troughs  in  the  primary  rocks  all  the  way  from 
Nova  Scotia  down  to  Georgia,  the  beds,  however,  not  being 
continuous.  The  northern  slope  of  Nova  Scotia  is  of  this 
triassic  age.  Shaler’s  quarries,  in  Connecticut,  furnish 
nearly  all  of  this  stone  used  in  Boston,  Providence,  New  % 
York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford.  The  red  soils  of  New 
Jersey  are  underlaid  with  it.  Parts  of  the  Susquehanna, 
near  York,  and  all  the  Monocacy  Valley  are  of  this  forma- 
tion The  Grant-Seneca  quarries  are  in  this,  and  the  Vir- 
ginia Midland  railroad  runs  across  many  miles  of  it.  The 
gray  sandstones  in  which  the  Richmond  coals  are  found 
are  of  this  age.  The  Deep  River  and  Dan  River  coals  of 
North  Carolina  are  in  these  rocks,  and  this  writer  thinks 


170  ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES. 


he  has  identified  them  in  South  Carolina  and  in  Georgia  at 
several  points. 

The  red  sandstone  of  the  Seneca  (Potomac)  quarries  is 
now  the  fashionable  stone,  and  its  great  beauty  and  durabilty 
fully  justify  its  popularity.  The  great  sandstones  used  in 
the  West  are  typified  by  the  Amherst  and  Berea  blocks  of 
the  Cleveland  Stone  Company,  which  analyze  as  below : 


Amherst  Stone. 


Berea  Stone. 


Silica 97.00  p.  ct. 

Lime,  Magnesia,  &c.  1.60  p.  ct. 

Iron  Oxides 1.00  p.  ct. 

Moisture 40  p.  ct. 


Silica 97.00  p.  ct. 

Lime,  Magnesia,  &c.  1.20  p.  ct. 

Iron  Oxides 1.50  p.  ct. 

Moisture 30  p.  ct. 


QUARTZITE. 

This  is  the  sandstone  of  the  primary  formation,  and  is 
composed  of  the  silica  washed  out  of  such  silicated  ternary 
minerals  as  have  decomposed.  It  is  the  same  as  the  sand- 
stone of  the  secondary  and  later  formations,  except  that  it 
is  composed  of  more  perfectly  crystalline  grains  and  has 
fewer  impurities  mixed  with  it.  A variety  called  Itacolumite , 
or  ‘ elastic  sandstone,”  has  the  grains  and  the  connecting 
cement  arranged  in  ball-and-socket  fashion,  and  sometimes 
with  small  grains  of  mica  scattered  through  it.  This  gives 
it  a certain  flexibility ; but  as  it  does  not  spring  back  of  its 
own  accord,  it  ought  not  to  be  spoken  of  as  elastic.  It  is 
the  best  natural  stone  for  “inwalls”  of  furnaces,  as  its 
peculiar  structure  prevents  expansion  or  contraction,  the 
open  joints  taking  or  giving  all  the  slack  either  way. 


These  are  the  finest  of  the  stratified  laminated  rocks,  the 
grains  being  rather  more  flat  than  round,  and  they  are 
always  laid  down  flat,  thus  giving  a laminated  structure  to 
the  slate.  There  arc  three  slates  among  the  primary  rocks, 
the  bottom  one,  resting  on  the  schists  or  gneiss,  being  the 
micaceous  slate  ; the  second,  the  talcose  slate ; and  the  third, 
the  chlorite  slates.  The  whole  three,  together  with  the  clay 


. ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES.  171 


shale  next  spoken  of,  are  the  great  gold-bearing  rocks  of 
the  world.  The  mica  slates  are  blue  or  gray,  specked  with 
minute  particles  of  mica,  the  talcose  and  chlorites  being 
greenish,  the  chlorite  being  the  cleanest  and  brightest 
green.  The  talcose  slate  is  the  most  auriferous  and  feels 
greasy. 

From  Buckingham  county,  Virginia,  now  comes  a slate 
from  which  lovely  sills,  lintels,  steps,  &c.,  are  cut.  The 
great  roofing  slates  of  Pennsylvania  come  from  the  Utica 
and  Hudson  shales,  and  the  Delta,  Md.,  slates  are  in  Parr’s 
Ridge  among  the  primary  rocks.  The  North  River  blue- 
stone  flags  come  in  the  Hamilton  group. 

GRANITE. 

Granite  is  built  up  of  well-regulated  crystals  of  feldspar, 
quartz  and  mica,  and  it  is  called  granite  because  it  is  so  per- 
fectly granular.  The  quartz  is  generally  white;  the  feld- 
spar white  or  pinkish,  and  the  mica  is  usually  lead-colored, 
but  often  dark-brown  or  even  black,  and  gives  ruling  color 
to  the  mass,  except  in  the  red  or  Scotch  granite,  where  the 
color  is  due  to  red  feldspar. 

SYENITE. 

This  is  hornblende  granite,  the  hornblende  being  in  place 
of  mica  in  the  true  granite.  It  is  more  apt  to  be  darker 
in  color  and  considerably  finer  in  grain  than  the  micaceous 
granite.  It  is  found  in  great  sheets  and  masses  like  granite. 
This  stone  is  the  Egyptian  black  granite. 

PROTOGENE, 

This  is  talcose  granite,  the  talc  replacing  the  mica  in  this 
stone,  just  as  hornblende  replaces  it  in  syenite.  It  is,  of 
course,  granular,  and  occurs  in  great  sheets  and  masses. 
The  substitution  of  talc  for  mica  gives  it  a slightly  greenish 
tinge. 

These  three  granites  are  often  confused,  or  taken  for  each 
other.  Borne  granites  are  much  harder  than  others,  and, 


172  ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES. 


for  a while,  it  was  thought  that  hard  granites  made  the  best 
block  pavements;  but  the  softer  granites  are  now  coming  in 
again,  as  it  is  found  that  they  don’t  wear  smooth  to  a polish, 
and  horses  don’t  slip  on  them. 

The  granites  split  in  the  rift  and  in  the  grain  with  almost 
equal  facility,  and  they  can  be  very  finely  carved  and  highly 
polished,  and  would  be  the  most  useful  stones  known  if  they 
could  stand  fire. 

GNEISS. 

This  is  made  up  of  any  of  the  minerals  contained  in  the 
foregoing  granular  rocks,  but  when  gneiss-  contains  mica  it 
does  not  often  contain  either  talc  or  hornblende.  When 
containing  hornblende  it  generally  omits  mica  and  talc. 
When  talc  is  present  mica  and  hornblende  are  mostly  absent. 
This  shows  that  gneiss  is  either  washed  down  granite, 
syenite  or  protogene,  or  else  the  granites  are  melted  gneiss. 
The  gneiss  is  evidently  a sedimentary  rock,  as  it  is  coarsely 
and  irregularly  stratified,  and  there  are  reasons  for  holding 
that  it  is  part  of  the  original  sedimentary  rocks  scalped  off 
in  the  earliest  days. 

Gneiss  fades  upwards  into  the  finer-grained  and  more  per“ 
fectly  stratified  schists ; downward  into  the  highly  crystal" 
line,  granular  granite  rocks,  and  horizontally  it  fades  into 
granite  also.  There  are  cases  where  granite  rocks  rest  on 
top  of  gneiss,  separated  therefrom  by  a sharp  line  of  contact, 
which  shows  that  the  granite  overflowed  the  gneiss  in  a 
sheet  or  stream  from  some  neighboring  fissure.  Other  cases 
show  the  gneiss  on  top  of  the  granites  with  equally  sharp 
line  of  contact,  which  shows  that  there  had  been  a second 
sedimentary  deposit  on  top  of  the  granite  formed  by  the 
melting  of  a former  bed  of  gneiss.  Still  other  cases  show 
the  gneiss  fading  downwards  and  laterally  also  gradually 
into  granite,  which  show  that  the  second  heating  up  was  not 
sufficiently  intense  to  melt  up  the  whole  mass  of  gneiss. 

The  great  quarries  at  Port  Deposit  are  in  this  stone,  and 
for  heavy  construction,  such  as  bridge  and  railroad  masonry, 


ORNAMENTAL  AND  BUILDING  STONES.  173 


and  sub-Walls  of  all  sorts,  gneiss  is  just  what  is  wanted,  as 
it  is  well  bedded  and  quarries  easily. 

PORPHYRY. 

True  porphyry  is  composed  entirely  of  feldspar,  the 
arrangement  being  a number  of  large  crystals  of  feldspar 
embedded  in  a cement  of  the  same  material.  It  is  an 
agglomerate,  whereas  it  is  often  the  case  that  conglomerates 
are  called  porphyry  by  men  who  ought  to  learn  better.  The 
agglomerates  are  those  in  which  the  pebbles  and  the  cement 
are  the  same  materials,  while  in  conglomerates  they  are  of 
different  materials. 

The  ancients  used  porphyry  and  jasper  for  interior  work, 
but  the  capitol  buildings  of  our  new  State  of  Montana,  at 
Helena,  are  built  throughout  of  this  stone,  and  are  said  to 
be  ahead  of  even  the  red  granite  capitol  buildings  just  built 
in  Texas. 


XII. 

CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


Natural  Cements — Portland — Roman — Rosendale— 
Selenite.  Brick  Clay — Potter’s  Clay — Fire 
Clay  — Kaolin  — Bauxite  — Dinas. 


cement. 

The  simplest  form  of  cement  is  lime,  which  is  calcium 
oxide,  and  is  produced  by  burning  the  carbonic  acid  out  of 
limestone  or  marl  or  chalk  or  oyster  shells,  etc.  The  resi- 
due is  lime,  and  is  a white  alkaline  earth,  very  caustic. 
This  lime,  when  exposed  to  dry  air,  will  not  re-absorb  the 
carbonic  acid  out  of  the  air ; but,  as  natural  air  is  never  dry, 
the  lime  absorbs  first  the  moisture  and  then  the  carbonic 
acid,  and,  in  time,  it  returns  to  its  original  condition  of 
limestone,  etc. 

Builders  take  advantage  of  this  by  mixing  sand  or  other 
granulated  substance  with  lime,  and  putting  in  water 
enough  to  make  a stiff  paste.  They  use  this  paste  for  a 
cement  or  mortar  between  their  bricks  or  stones,  and  when 
the  lime  takes  up  carbonic  acid  out  of  the  air  it  “ sets”  and 
hardens,  and  binds  the  bricks  or  stones  into  one  wall.  It 
is  evident  that  if  this  lime-cement  or  mortar  be  placed  under 
water,  the  air  cannot  get  to  it,  and  the  lime  can  find  hardly 
any  carbonic  acid  to  absorb ; but,  nevertheless,  ordinary 
lime  mortars  will  harden  under  water  if  they  have  time 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


175 


enough,  and  are  protected  against  any  disturbance  or  wash- 
outs by  currents,  etc. 

This  fact  shows  that  there  is  some  other  chemical  action 
at  work  not  dependent  on  exposure  to  air.  This  action  was 
found  to  be  silicification,  or  the  action  of  the  acid  silica 
upon  the  alkaline  base,  lime,  whereby  a true  silicate  of  lime 
was  produced,  and  this  was  found  to  be  a stronger  cementing 
factor  than  the  carbonate  of  lime. 

This  is  the  starting  point  for  Ransome’s  artificial  stone. 
Ransomc  mixed  selected  sand  with  silicate  of  soda,  and 
molded  the  stiff  paste  into  blocks,  then  drenched  the  blocks 
with  solution  of  chloride  of  lime.  A double  decomposition 
took  place  within  the  body  of  the  block,  the  chlorine  taking 
the  soda  for  a partner,  and  the  silica  joining  the  lime  as 
silicate  of  lime.  The  sodium  chloride  (common  salt)  was 
afterwards  washed  out  with  water,  leaving  a solid  block  of 
sand  cemented  by  silicate  of  lime.  Very  handsome  molded 
blocks,  of  many  colors  and  textures,  were  formed  by  mixing 
in  proper  substances. 

In  lime  mortar,  the  silicic  acid  comes  from  the  clean, 
sharp  sand,  and  is  very  slow  in  laying  hold  of  the  lime. 
To  quicken  the  silicifying  action,  selected  clay,  containing 
silica  and  alumina  in  the  finest  state  of  pulverization,  was 
used  to  relieve  the  coarser  sand,  and  the  silicate  of  lime 
formed  very  rapidly  around  the  sand.  The  alumina  in  the 
clay  was  also  found  to  form  still  another  cementing  sub- 
stance, but  slower  in  its  action,  viz.:  the  aluminate  of  lime. 
While  mortars  rely  principally  on  the  carbonate  of  lime, 
cements  rely  on  the  silicate  of  lime  for  quick  setting,  and 
the  aluminate  of  lime  for  slow  setting. 

It  resulted  from  all  this  research  that  henceforth  all  first- 
class  cements  must  have  the  three  substances,  lime,  silica 
and  alumina ; but,  as  clay  generally  contains  both  alumina 
and  silica,  the  cement-makers  confined  themselves  to  se- 
curing either  a native  stone  which  should  combine  the  sub- 
stances in  proper  proportion,  or  else  to  securing  the 
substances  themselves  and  combining  them. 


176 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


It  is  customary  to  consider  that  Nature  does  things  better 
than  man  does  them,  but  the  persons  who  hold  this  opinion 
do  not  reflect  that  man  is  merely  one  of  Nature’s  fingers 
or  instruments,  and  that  as  he  is  the  latest  and  most 
improved  instrument,  so  he  should  be  expected  to  turn  out 
better  results  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  Even  so  it  is  in 
cements.  The  forces  which  piled  up  lime,  silica  and  alumina 
in  beds  which  are  now  hardened  argillaceous  limestones  did 
their  work  without  knowledge  of  what  was  wanted,  but  man 
knows  more  about  it,  and  so  he  puts  in  the  proper  propor- 
tions of  each  substance. 

The  native  limestones  are  used  by  most  of  the  cement- 
makers  of  this  country,  as  it  so  happens  that  we  have  rocks 
here  which  are  much  more  nearly  just  the  proper  composi- 
tion than  those  available  for  the  purpose  in  England.  The 
localities  where  these  argillaceous  limestones  are  found  in 
this  country  are  very  numerous,  and  will  not  be  mentioned 
here,  as  almost  any  district  among  the  secondary  rocks  will 
supply  them.  The  general  proportions  of  the  substances  in 
these  rocks  should  pretty  nearly  agree  with  the  analysis  of 
Portland  cement  as  given  below,  because,  otherwise,  the  party 
who  puts  his  money  into  the  venture  is  putting  it  in  peril. 
There  is,  however,  considerable  leeway  around  these  propor- 
tions, for  a cement  that  bears  on  the  aluminates  as  its  chief 
factor,  although  a slow-setting  cement,  is  often  better  for 
certain  purposes  than  the  cement  which  counts  on  its 
silicates.  The  Portland  cement,  celebrated  the  world  over, 
is  made  normally  with  an  equilibrium  between  the  silicates 
and  aluminates,  and  the  makers  vary  it  for  special  orders  only. 

The  composition  of  normal  Portland  cement  is  about  as 
follows : 

Lime 60  p.  ct.  | Alumina 8 p.  ct. 

Silica 25  p.  ct.  | Impurities 7 p.  ct. 

The  impurities  are  generally  made  up  of  iron  oxide,  mag- 
nesia, gypsum,  potash,  soda,  and  other  trash. 

The  best  Portland  cement-makers  grind  together  selected 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


177 


clialk  and  clay  with  water,  then  make  the  pulp  into  halls 
and  burn  them  at  a white  heat  for  several  days.  Then  the 
calcined  balls  are  ground  to  impalpable  powder  and  packed 
in  barrels  lined  with  prepared  paper. 

The  old  Roman  cements  differed  from  each  other  as  much 
as  ours  do,  but  they  all  contained  a large  percentage  of  iron 
oxide.  An  average  is  as  follows  : 

Lime... 55  p.  ct.  1 Alumina,... 7 p.  ct. 

Silica 22  p.  ct.  | Iron  Oxide 12  p.  ct. 

Together  with  fotir  per  cent,  of  impurities. 

There  is  a large  class  of  very  good  but  slow-setting  cements 
in  this  country  which  contain  magnesia  along  with  lime  as 
the  alkaline  basis  of  the  silicate  and  aluminate  compounds. 
The  cements  called  “ Rosendale  ” are  of  this  class.  These 
magnesian  cements,  when  properly  treated  in  all  respects, 
make  one  of  the  very  best  cement  joints  attainable,  but  great 
care  must  be  taken  to  preserve  them,  in  storage  or  trans- 
portation, against  access  of  moisture. 

There  is  still  another  American  cement  called  “ selenite,’7 
which  contains  sulphate  of  lime  (plaster  of  Paris)  and  is  a 
very  quick-setting  cement.  If  any  silicate  or  aluminate  of 
lime  forms  in  this  cement  it  must  do  so  after  the  sulphuric 
acid  has  taken  all  the  lime  it  can  carry,  and  a little  is  left  over 
for  the  silica  and  alumina. 

It  is  a question  open  to  discussion  as  to  whether  it  is  better 
to  mix  up  various  cementing  compounds  in  any  one  cement, 
as  they  may  obstruct  or  alter  each  other. 

The  Cumberland  or  Upper  Potomac  cements  are  all  quick- 
setting natural  cements  of  great  merit  when  fresh,  and 
should  be  more  extensively  used. 

CLAY. 

Clay  is  a name  for  a multitude  of  various  stuffs,  but  it  is 
properly  confined  to  any  mixture  of  silica  and  alumina  in  a 
finely  pulverized  condition. 

Brick  Clay  is  the  bottom  of  the  series,  and  is  composed  of 
silica  and  alumina  primarily,  but  has  all  sorts  of  odds  and 


178 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


ends  of  minerals  mixed  up  in  it.  Burned  bricks  are  nearly 
always  red,  and  the  more  brilliantly  red  they  are  the  more 
highly  they  are  valued.  This  coloring  matter  is  iron,  and  a 
singular  fact  in  this  connection  is  that  the  clays  which  pro- 
duce the  reddest  bricks  are  nearly  always  yellowish -blue 
clays.  They,  of  course,  contain  iron  in  the  carbonate  con- 
dition, and  the  burning  converts  the  iron  into  hematite.  A 
clay  which  makes  a dull,  yellowish-colored  but  otherwise 
good  strong  brick  can  be  made  to  produce  a cherry-red  brick 
by  using  pulverized  iron  ore  in  the  molding-sand,  and  this 
is  done  in  Washington  and  some  other  places  by  using  the 
mineral  Bauxite  mentioned  at  the  end  of  this  sub-chapter. 
Milwaukee  brick  are  made  of  a clay  containing  no  iron,  and 
they  are  cream-colored.  This  color  is  becoming  fashionable. 

Potter's  Clay  is  often  made  out  of  brick  clay  by  putting 
the  latter  in  vats  and  stirring  it  with  water  until  the  finer 
clayey  portions  are  suspended  in  the  muddy  water.  The 
water  is  then  drawn  off  and  the  fine  clay  is  allowed  to  settle 
in  other  vats.  A bed  of  brick  clay,  if  so  located  as  to  have 
the  proper  slope,  can  be  thus  almost  entirely  washed  down 
into  settling  vats  cut  into  the  clay  itself  at  the  bottom  of 
the  slope.  The  stirring  vats  in  these  cases  are  cut  into  the 
clay  at  the  top  of  the  slope,  and  are  gradually  worked  down 
the  slope  by  cutting  and  washing  the  materials  of  the  down- 
hill sides  of  the  vats,  while  the  pebbles  and  coarse  stuff  are 
cast  up  hill.  The  muddy  water  runs  down  hill  either  in 
ground-cut  sluices  or  in  troughs. 

Beds  of  nearly  pure  potter’s  clay  are,  of  course,  more  val- 
able  to  potters  than  ordinary  brick  clay,  but  the  difference 
is  not  very  great,  because  no  clay  in  nature  is  found  pure 
enough  to  make  good  ware,  and  it  all  has  to  be  w ashed  by 
suspension  in  water  and  precipitation,  anyhow.  Clay  beds 
are,  however,  found  pure  enough  to  make  rough,  coarse  wave 
out  of  without  washing,  and  from  these  come  the  jugs  and 
crocks  and  jars  and  flower  pots. 

Fire  Clays  are  the  clays  which  are  found  under  the  coal 
beds  of  the  true  coals.  They  generally  contain  sixty  per 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


179 


cent,  of  cilica  to  thirty  of  alumina  and  ten  of  trash,  although 
many  good  fire  clays  differ  greatly  from  these  proportions. 
The  fire  clays  under  the  coal  beds  are  of  almost  any  color, 
but  bluish  or  yellowish-gray  predominates.  The  clay  is  hard 
and  compact  and  breaks  into  little  cubical  blocks,  presenting 
very  little  appearance  of  being  plastic.  Some  weathering 
and  working  in  a pug  mill  are  required  to  develop  its 
plasticity. 

It  is  mixed  with  a little  sand  and  burned  into  bricks,  which 
are  used  to  line  all  sorts  of  furnaces  where  resistance  to 
great  heat  is  required.  The  stability  of  the  lining  of  furnaces 
requires  not  only  that  the  material  shall  not  melt  down,  but 
that  it  shall  not  contract  or  expand  under  the  changing 
degrees  of  heat,  and  this  requires  that  the  bricks  should  be 
somewhat  porous,  so  as  to  take  up  their  own  “slack.” 
They  are,  therefore,  sometimes  made  up  with  fine  sawdust 
or  coal  dust  mixed  in  the  clay,  this  dust  burning  out  in  the 
kiln  and  leaving  pores  all  through  the  body  of  the  brick. 
Fire  clays  are  found  in  many  other  localities  besides  those 
mentioned  under  the  coal  beds ; but  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  any  clay  already  brightly  colored,  or  which  con- 
tains iron  in  any  form,  will  never  serve  for  a high-heat  fire 
clay,  as  the  iron  acts  as  a flux  for  the  silica  of  the  clay,  form- 
ing silicate  of  iron. 

Kaolin  is  porcelain  clay,  and  it  is  theoretically  pure  clay. 
Its  descriptive  list  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 2.5  Alumina ....40  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.0  Water 13  p.  ct. 

Silica 47  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  pearly  to  dull ; clearness,  opaque  ; color,  white  to 
grayish ; feel,  greasy ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  imper- 
fect; fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal;  texture,  earthy  and 
massive,  but  under  microscope  is  minute  scaly. 

This  clay  is  the  residuum  of  the  decomposition  of  feld- 
spar. When  the  potash  or  other  soluble  alkali  is  washed 
out  into  the  soil,  the  silica  and  alumina  are  left  behind  as  a 


180 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


bed  of  white  clay.  Even  this  clay,  found  just  where  it  was 
formed,  is  rarely  so  pure  that  it  can  be  used  without  wash- 
ing and  refining  by  suspension  in  water  and  subsequent 
precipitation.  It  becomes  still  more  impure  when  Mother 
Nature  supervises  the  washing,  for  she  cuts  it  out  of  the 
hill  with  her  water  sluices  and  washes  it  down  into  beds 
below,  and  gets  all  sorts  of  impurities  mixed  in  with  it, 
and,  worst  of  all,  she  is  apt  to  get  iron  into  it.  A clay  may 
be  a most  beautiful  white  and  yet  burn  into  a red  or  yel- 
lowish porcelain,  or  the  clay  may  be  dirty  with  organic 
matter  and  yet  burn  into  a pure  white  porcelain. 

The  finest  porcelain  clays  in  the  world  are,  undoubtedly, 
those  of  China  and  Japan,  and  the  next  are  at  Limoges,  in 
France.  There  is  recently  reported  from  Northwestern 
Louisiana  a bed  of  clay  wThich  is  so  fine  that  French  porce- 
lain men  are  now  organizing  to  use  it  in  new  works  to  be 
established  in  New  Orleans.  The  kaolin  beds  of  South 
Carolina,  Maryland,  Delaware,  and  some  other  American 
States  contain  very  fine  clay,  but  somehow  they  don’t  get 
up  a reputation  for  themselves,  and  they  have  a heavy  tariff 
to  secure  them  against  competition,  too.  The  English  and 
French  kaolins  come  to  New  York  in  square  cakes,  stamped 
with  analysis  and  maker’s  name,  and  sell  at  twenty  to 
twenty-eight  dollars  per  ton,  tariff  paid.  The  American 
kaolins  come  in  bags  and  barrels  and  sometimes  in  bulk, 
with  no  analysis  or  maker’s  guarantee,  and  sell  at  ten  to 
fifteen  dollars  per  ton.  This  would  soon  be  rectified  if 
American  makers  would  wash,  conscientiously,  their  pro- 
ducts, and  stamp  them  so  that  buyers  would  know  what 
they  were  buying. 

The  surfacing  and  loading  down  of  writing  paper  that  is 
not  done  by  barytes  is  done  by  kaolin,  and  its  price  is  thus 
raised  from  a clay  price  to  a paper  price. 

Bauxite  is  a substance  resembling  a pure  Fuller's  Earth , 
and  is  not  properly  a clay,  as  it  contains  no  silica.  Its 
composition  is  as  follows : 


CEMENTS  AND  CLAYS. 


181 


Gravity 2.9  Iron  Oxide 27  p.  ct. 

Hardness 0.8  Water 21  p.  ct. 

Alumina 52  p.  ct. 

It  is  a reddish  dust,  which  can  be  worked  up  into  a paste 
with  water.  It  is  not  fusible  by  any  means  yet  tried. 
There  are  deposits  of  an  impure  and  micaceous  variety  near 
Alexandria,  Virginia,  and  the  Washington  brickmakers 
use  it  for  molding-sand. 

Dinas  is  the  so-called  clay  out  of  which  the  well-known 
dinas  brick  is  made,  and  it  is  almost  entirely  silica,  and, 
therefore,  not  properly  a clay,  but  it  is  marketed  as  such. 
It  is  simply  the  silicious  part  of  a clay  which  has  been 
naturally  washed. 


XIII. 

SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


Salt — Soda — Borax — Saltpetre — Ammonia — Gypsum— 
Phosphate  Rocks— Potash  Rocks — Marl. 


salt. 

When  a chemical  gentleman  in  spectacles  asks  for  Halite 
or  Sodium  Chloride  you  may  know  he  means  salt,  and  if  he 
goes  on  to  describe  it  he  will  do  it  nearly  this  way : 

Gravity 2.1  to  2.2  I Sodium 39  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.5  | Chlorine 61  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  sub-transparent ; color,  color- 
less, white-yellowish;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle; 
cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  conchoidal;  texture,  granular, 
crystalline. 

The  white  and  colorless  varieties  are  pure  salt,  and  the 
reddish,  yellowish,  bluish,  purplish  crystals  all  contain  some 
impurity  in  slight  degree.  Lime  and  magnesia,  in  the  form 
of  chlorides  and  sulphates,  are  the  most  frequent  mixtures, 
but  potash  is  also  sometimes  present. 

Owing  to  its  great  solubility,  salt  is  more  frequently  found 
in  water  than  as  a rock,  and  most  of  the  salt  of  commerce 
is  obtained  by  boiling  or  otherwise  evaporating  the  waters 
of  the  sea  or  of  salt  lakes  or  of  salt  springs.  These  springs  are, 
of  course,  charged  with  salt  during  the  passage  of  their  waters 
through  underground  rock  salt.  In  some  European  salt 


SALTS  AJSD  FERTILIZERS. 


183 


mines,  where  the  salt  is  so  much  mixed  with  earth  and  rock 
and  sand  as  to  make  its  separation  expensive,  they  dig  holes  in 
it  and  fill  them  with  water,  which  water  they  pump  out  again 
after  it  has  dissolved  enough  salt  to  make  its  boiling  profit- 
able. 

The  salt  in  Louisiana  is  regularly  mined  dry,  while  nearly 
all  other  American  salt  is  the  result  of  boiling  it  from  brine 
pumped  up  from  the  salt  rocks  through  drilled  holes, 

SODA. 

This  is  the  second  strongest  of  the  alkalis,  potash  being 
the  first.  The  name  soda  really  means  the  caustic  oxide  of 
the  metal  sodium,  but  in  commerce  it  is  taken  to  mean  any 
of  three  carbonates — the  carbonate,  the  sesqui-carbonate, 
and  the  bi-carbonate  This  last  is  in  most  general  use,  and 
its  points  are : 

Gravity 1.8  I Soda 22  p.  ct. 

Hardness  2.0  | Carbonic  Acid  & Water, 78  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white  to 
gray;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

All  three  of  the  carbonates  are  found  in  greater  or  lesser 
quantities  all  over  the  West,  and  many  of  the  lakes  and 
streams  and  springs  are  tainted  and  alkaline  with  soda. 
The  straight  carbonate  sal  soda,  is  the  most  abundant,  and 
it  contains  thirty-eighi  per  cent  of  soda. 

The  soda  lakes  of  the  regions  west  of  the  Rocky  moun- 
tains are  a prominent  feature  in  the  national  economy,  and 
have  affected  prices  all  over  the  world  in  the  three  articles 
of  salt,  borax,  and  soda.  As  these  three  important  minerals 
are  merely  compounds  of  the  one  substance,  soda,  they  very 
naturally  are  all  found  together.  The  same  basin  will  hold 
all  three  in  solution  in  its  water  during  the  rainy  season, 
and  will  drop  them  in  different  layers  during  each  dry  season 
when  it  dries  up. 


184 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


BORAX. 

This  is  borate  of  soda,  and  its  points  are : 

Gravity . 1.7  Boric  Acid... 37  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.3  Water 47  p.  ct. 

Soda 16  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  resinous  to  vitreous;  clearness,  sub-translucent; 
color,  white ; feel,  harsh ; elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile ; cleavage, 
perfect;  fracture,  conchoidal;  texture,  crystalline;  taste, 
sweetish. 

Borax  is  found  in  small  quantities  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  but  the  cheapest  supply  comes  from  the  Borax  Lake 
of  California,  and  from  other  lakes  or  dried-up  lake  basins 
found  among  the  other  curiosities  of  the  lands  west  of  the 
Rocky  mountains.  Borax  is  valuable  for  many  purposes  in 
manufacturing ; and  there  are  two  kinds,  the  prismatic  and 
the  octahedral — the  prismatic  having  the  composition  shown 
above,  while  the  octahedral  has  only  thirty  per  cent,  of 
water. 

The  boric  or  boracic  acid  is  also  found  native,  and  is  to  be 
looked  for  in  all  volcanic  regions,  and  also  among  salt  beds 
and  rocks,  and  among  the  gypsum  rocks.  It  is  very  similar 
to  borax,  but  it  is  only  half  as  hard,  and  a little  lighter  in 
weight.  It  also  tastes  more  acid  and  less  swreet.  It  is  called 
Scissolite,  technically.  Sussexite  is  a borate  of  manganese  and 
magnesia,  and  is  much  harder  and  heavier  than  borax,  and 
has  little  or  no  taste,  but  is  white  and  translucent.  Boracite 
is  borate  of  magnesia  and  chlorine,  and  is  a little  heavier 
and  twice  as  hard  as  borax.  TJlexite  is  borate  of  lime  and 
soda,  weight  and  hardness  about  like  sassolite,  fibrous  texture. 

SALTPETRE 

This  is  nitre,  or  potassium  nitrate,  and  contains  39  per 
cent,  of  potassium,  14  of  nitrogen  and  47  of  oxygen.  It  is 
rarely  found  native,  but  its  cousins,  the  nitrates  of  soda  and 
lime  and  magnesia,  occur  in  great  beds  in  the  rainless  up- 
land plains  of  South  America,  and  the  potassium  nitrate  is 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


185 


easily  made  from  these  by  substituting  potash  for  the  other 
alkaline  bases. 

It  is  not  known  just  how  this  nitrogen  gets  into  chemical 
combination  with  the  oxygen  in  the  air  so  as  to  form  nitric 
acid,  but  electric^  is  believed  to  have  something  to  with  it. 
Yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  all  our  tremendous  expendi- 
tures for  modern  warfare,  and  for  big  and  little  guns,  from 
the  100-ton  steel  rifle  cannon  to  the  6-ounce  Derringer,  are 
based  upon  the  expectation  that  Nature  will  continue  to 
combine  these  gases  into  acid,  so  that  we  can  make  gun- 
powder and  dynamite  and  other  explosives,  with  which  to 
kill  each  other,  or  make  a noise  on  the  4th  of  July,  and 
incidentally  set  fire  to  our  houses. 

About  one-third  of  the  powder  used  by  the  Confederate 
army  during  the  civil  war  of  1861-5  was  made  from  nitrate 
of  lime  leached  out  of  the  dry  earth  of  limestone  caverns, 
the  lime  being  afterwards  cut  out  by  home-made  carbonate 
potash,  and  the  resulting  saltpetre  obtained  by  boiling  and 
crystallization.  This  lime  nitrate  is  also  found  under  old 
houses  and  out-buildings,  and  is  generated  in  compost  heaps 
and  nitre  beds  under  cover. 

AMMONIA. 

This  is  an  alkaline  gas,  and  is  a product  of  fermentation 
or  decomposition.  It  is  made  up  of  the  gases  nitrogen  and 
hydrogen,  and  can  be  liquefied  by  either  cold  or  pressure. 
The  liquid  can  also  be  frozen  into  a white  crystalline  mass. 
There  are  several  salts  of  ammonia,  such  as  the  carbonate 
and  the  chloride,  this  last  being  better  known  as  sal  am- 
moniac. The  carbonate  is  not  found  as  a natural  mineral, 
but  the  chloride  is  found  occasionally  in  dry  localities,  such 
as  nitrates  are  found  in,  and  can  be  described  thus: 

Gravity 2.0  to  2.2  I Ammonia 34  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.6  to  2.0  | Chlorine... 67  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color, 
white ; feel,  smooth  to  greasy ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage, 
imperfect;  fracture,  uneven;  texture,  granular,  crystalline. 


186 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


A great  source  of  ammonia  in  all  its  forms  is  found  in 
the  manufacture  of  gas.  It  is  formed  during  the  destructive 
distillation  of  any  of  the  hydro-carbons,  but  particularly 
the  bituminous  coals.  It  can  be  produced  by  getting  up  a 
decomposing  disturbance  with  almost  any  kind  of  vege- 
table or  animal  substance,  and  it  is  the  chief  valuable  con- 
stituent in  manures,  furnishing,  as  it  does,  nearly  all  the 
nitrogen  consumed  by  plants. 

GYPSUM. 

This  is  variously  called  Sulphate  of  Lime , Land  Plaster , 
Plaster  of  Paris , and  its  points  are : 

Gravity 2 3 Lime 33  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.7  Water 21  p.  ct. 

Sulphuric  Acid 46  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  pearly ; clearness,  opaque  to  translu- 
cent; color,  white,  gray,  light-yellow;  feel,  meagre;  elas 
ticity,  brittle  to  sectile ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; 
texture,  massive,  crystalline. 

This  mineral  occurs  in  all  forms  and  conditions,  from  the 
crystalline  Selenite,  transparent  as  glass,  or  the  massive  Ala- 
baster, opaque  to  sub -translucent  and  many-tinted,  down  to 
the  earthy  varieties,  looking  like  dirty  chalk.  Satin  Spar  is 
a beautiful  fibrous  variety,  with  a pearly  lustre. 

Gypsum  is  primarily  a rock,  and  a big  one,  too,  for  there 
are  beds  of  it  in  Southwest  Virginia  five  hundred  feet  thick 
and  occupying  hundreds  of  square  miles  of  area.  This  par- 
ticular bed  is  not  much  used  for  fertilizing  purposes,  as  it  is 
the  home  of  the  salt  waters  of  that  district,  and  the  salt  is 
mixed  with  the  gypsum. 

Gypsum  burned  and  ground  like  the  cements*  becomes 
plaster  of  Paris  and  “sets”  much  more  quickly,  when 
watered,  than  any  other  cement.  It  is  to  be  looked  for  as  a 
rock  bed  and  regular  member  of  the  limestone  groups  in  all 
the  formations  above  the  primaries. 

There  is  another  mineral  which  is  called  Anhydrite,  which 
often  occurs  with  gypsum,  and  which  is  about  the  same 
thing  as  gypsum  with  the  water  left  out.  Its  points  are : 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


187 


Gravity 2.0  Lime 41  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.3  | Sulphuric  Acid 59  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  pearly;  clearness,  opaque  to  translu- 
cent; color,  white,  gray,  red;  feel,  meagre;  elasticity,  brittle 
to  sectile ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture, 
fibrous,  foliated,  granular  or  massive. 

This  mineral  is  much  harder  than  the  hydrous  sulphate, 
and  a little  heavier  also.  The  finer  varieties  are  carved  into 
ornamental  articles,  and  the  mineral  is  found  in  company 
with  the  true  gypsum.  Neither  the  hydrous  nor  the  anhy- 
drous sulphates  effervesce  when  touched  with  acids  as  the 
lime  and  other  carbonates  do. 

PHOSPHATE  ROCKS. 

There  are  a great  man}r  minerals  which  contain  phos- 
phoric acid,  and  some  of  them  are  abundant  enough  to  be 
of  very  great  importance  to  mankind.  The  fact  that  some 
of  them  are  of  animal  origin  does  not  conflict  with  the  other 
fact  that  they  are  also  rocks,  for  when  we  think  about  water 
being  simply  the  liquid  form  of  the  rock  ice,  and  that  lime- 
stone and  coal  are  rocks  which  were  once  of  purely  animal 
and  vegetable  matter  respectively,  we  will  be  ready  to  con- 
cede that  bones,  carcasses  and  excrement  may  become,  in 
time,  guano  and  South  Carolina  phosphate  rocks.  We  will 
look  first  at  the  earliest  of  all  the  phosphate  rocks,  which  is : 

Apatite , which  is  Phosphate  of  Lime. 

Gravity 3.1  I Phosphoric  Acid 43  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.8  Lime 55  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous  to  resinous ; clearness,  transparent,  all  the 
way  to  opaque ; color,  blue-green,  but  sometimes  white-gray 
or  yellow-brown;  feel,  rough;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage, 
imperfect ; fracture,  uneven  to  conchoidal ; texture,  fibrous 
to  tabular,  also  granular  to  massive. 

Although  the  color  of  this  mineral  is  so  various,  its  powder 
and  streak  are  always  white.  It  varies  greatly  in  clearness, 
but  the  transparent  varieties  are  scarce,  and  the  earthy, 


188 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


opaque  textures  are  also  scarce,  most  of  the  rock  being 
bluish-green,  about  sub-translucent  and  clouded,  crystalline. 
There  is  always  a small  percentage  of  chlorine  or  fluorine 
present,  and  sometimes  both. 

This  rock  is  found  among  the  older  primaries  and  crystal- 
line rocks.  It  occurs  in  veins  as  a regular  vein  stone,  and 
in  Canada  it  fills  great  lenticular-shaped  fissures  found  at 
intervals  over  many  hundred  square  miles  of  territory.  It 
is  regularly  mined  by  incorporated  companies ; and  sells 
readily  at  thirty-five  dollars  per  ton  by  the  ship-load.  It  is 
principally  shipped  to  Europe,  where  it  competes  with  the 
best  of  guano. 

This  mineral  has  not  been  found  in  any  great  abundance 
in  the  United  States,  but  it  has  not  been  thoroughly  searched 
for.  There  are  a number  of  other  phosphates,  mentioned 
below,  any  of  which  would  reward  richly  any  one  who 
should  find  them  in  good  quantity. 

Wacjnerite  is  phosphate  of  magnesia,  containing  44  per 
cent,  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  is  very  like  apatite,  slightly 
harder ; color,  yellowish. 

Triplite  is  phosphate  of  iron,  manganese  and  lime,  etc., 
containing  34  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid.  It  is  also  harder 
than  apatite,  and  is  of  brownish  coloring ; sub-translucent. 

Ambligonite  is  phosphate  of  alumina,  lithia,  fluorine,  and 
other  things,  containing  50  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid. 
This  is  6.0  hard,  3.5  heavy,  and  otherwise  very  much  like 
apatite. 

Wavellite  is  phosphate  of  alumina  also,  containing  35  per 
cent,  of  phosphoric  acid.  It  has  26  per  cent,  of  water  in  it, 
and  so  is  only  3.5  hard. 

We  seriously  advise  all  our  readers  who  are  located  among 
the  primary  rock  formations  to  set  up  a search  for  these 
minerals,  as  they  have  never  been  really  looked  for  in  our 
country,  and  a good  body  of  them  would  be  a big  find  for 
the  discoverer.  Remember  that  they  are  all  about  one-fifth 
heavier  than  qirartz,  and  only  about  two-thirds  as  hard,  so 
that  quartz  will  cut  them. 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


189 


Carolina  Phosphates  are  the  remains  of  a lot  of  fish,  etc., 
that  lived  in  tertiary  times  along  the  coast  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia  and  Florida,  and  probably  a great  many  other 
places  which  we  have  not  yet  discovered.  These  fish  appear 
to  have  made  a sort  of  cemetery  of  some  hundreds  of  square 
miles  of  coast  lands,  and  their  remains  are  in  many  places 
piled  up  several  feet  in  thickness.  In  many  places  this 
stratum  of  phosphates  forms  the  actual  bottom  of  rivers 
and  estuaries,  and  is  dislodged  and  raised  to  the  surface  by 
means  of  dredging  machines,  while  in  other  places  the 
stratum  is  overlaid  by  the  tertiary  and  quaternary  clays 
and  sands  to  such  depth  as  to  render  the  mining  very  ex- 
pensive. 

These  bones  and  debris  have  cemented  and  compacted 
with  each  other  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  properly  called 
a rock,  and  it  requires  much  cutting  and  cracking  to  detach 
sharks’  teeth  and  Coprolites  and  other  special  specimens 
from  the  mass.  They  are  now  beginning  to  call  this  rock 
mass  Osteolite , and  they  sell  it  by  the  ship-load  in  Charleston, 
or  other  good  seaport,  at  five  to  seven  dollars  per  ton.  It  is 
only  about  half  as  rich  in  phosphoric  acid  as  apatite. 

Down  in  Florida,  along.the  Gulf  coast,  and  particularly  in 
the  valley  of  the  Withlacoochee  River,  there  has  recently 
been  discovered  an  extensive  deposit  of  phosphate  stuffs, 
and  much  of  it  appears  to  be  a true  phosphatic  marl. 

Guano , like  Carolina  phosphates,  is  the  result  of  animal 
matter  mixed  up  with  enough  lime  to  compact  and 
mineralize  it.  On  the  guano  islands,  the  guano  on  top  is 
still  growing  by  fresh  deposits,  just  as  peat  is  still  growing 
on  the  top  of  peat  bogs,  while  down  at  the  bottom  of  the 
guano  it  is  a rock,  osteolite,  with  no  vestige  of  animal 
structure,  just  as  at  the  bottom  of  very  deep  peat  bogs,  the 
peat  is  actually  lignite  or  coal,  with  no  vestige  of  vegetable 
structure. 

Guano’  varies  in  composition  greatly,  as  in  the  dry  climate 
of  Peru  there  is  no  rain  water  to  wash  and  leach  out  the 
soluble  acids,  ammonias > etc.,  while  in  rainy  climates  the 


190 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


insoluble  phosphate  of  lime  is  all  that  is  left.  In  order  to 
make  good  fertilizer  out  of  this  plain  lime  phosphate  we 
have  to  procure  those  soluble  acids,  ammonias,  etc.,  from 
other  sources  and  put  them  back  in  the  lime  phosphates. 
The  following  are  two  analyses  of  different  guanos,  which 
will  show  the  difference  : 


Peruvian. 

Organic  Matter 52  p.  ct. 

Lime  Phosphate 23  p.  ct. 

Moisture 15  p.  ct. 

Alkaline  Salts 6 p.  ct. 

Free  Phosphoric  Acid,  2 p.  ct. 

Silica,  etc 2 p.  ct. 


Caribbean. 


Organic  Matter 8 p.  ct. 

Lime  Phosphate 77  p.  ct. 

Moisture 7 p.  ct. 

Lime  Sulphate 6 p.  ct. 

Silica,  etc 2 p.  ct. 


The  Peruvian  was  worth  twice  as  much  as  the  Caribbean. 

POTASH  ROCKS. 

Potash  is  one  of  the  elements  which  go  to  form  a good 
soil.  It  is  the  chief  ingredient  in  the  best  European  fer- 
tilizers, but  among  American  farmers  it  is  sadly  neglected. 
The  consequence  of  this  is  that  European  land,  is  constantly 
growing  richer,  and  is  now  better  than  when  it  was  first 
cleared  up,  fifteen  or  more  centuries  ago.  English  tenant 
farmers  pay  twenty  dollars  per  acre  per  year  rent  for  best 
wheat  lands,  whereas  the  entire  crop  of  our  ordinary  Penn- 
sylvania wheat  lands  don’t  bring  much  more. 

Fertilizers  to  be  complete  must  contain  the  ammoniacal 
or  nitrogenous  elements,  the  phosphates  and  the  potashes. 
Peruvian  guano  contains  the  necessary  ammonia  and  phos- 
phates, but  does  not  contain  the  potash,  so  the  wise  Euro- 
pean farmers  mix  the  German  potash  salts  with  the  Peru- 
vian guano,  and,  verily,  they  have  their  reward  in  big  crops 
and  richer  lands  and  advancing  valuations.  American  farm- 
ers use  fertilizers  made  up  of  Carolina  phosphates,  Carib- 
bean cheap  guano,  diatoms,  and  a lot  of  animal  ammon- 
iacal matter,  but  no  potash,  and  they  have  their  reward, 
also,  in  good  crops  at  first,  gradually  declining  into  bad 
ones,  and  then  into  sassafras,  broom  sedge.and  bankruptcy. 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


191 


The  prime  minerals,  mica  and  feldspar,  are  the  sources 
from  which  all  potash  is  derived.  Some  mica  contains 
twelve  per  cent,  of  potash,  and  some  feldspar  contains 
seventeen  per  cent.  As  these  minerals  decompose  through 
old  age  or  other  causes  the  potash  is  released  from  its  sili- 
cated  condition  and  forms  combinations  with  chlorine  and 
sulphuric*  acid,  thus  becoming  a soluble  salt.  In  this  condi- 
tion, and  with  the  aid  of  water,  it  permeates  all  through  the 
soil,  and  tinctures  sea  water  everywhere.  Great  beds  of 
chloride  and  sulphate  of  potash  are  found  alternating  with 
beds  of  salt  in  places  where  they  seem  to  have  been  left  by 
the  drying  up  of  seas,  such  as  the  Dead  Sea  and  others. 

Kainite  is  the  sulphate  of  potash  and  is  the  most  useful  of 
these  salts.  It  contains,  also,  other  things,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  following  description : 


Gravity 2.7 

Hardness 2.3 

Potash  Sulphate 25  p.  ct. 

Magnesia  Sulphate  ...14  p.  ct. 


Sodium  Chloride 32  p.  ct. 

Magnesia  Chloride. .. .13  p.  ct. 

Water 14  p.  ct. 

Trash 2 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  sub- vitreous  to  resinous;  clearness,  translucent; 
color,  ashy-gray;  feel,  greasy;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage, 
good ; fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  is  kainite  as  it  comes  to  America,  and  it  has,  like  all 
other  minerals,  a considerable  amount  of  other  salts  which 
might  be  called  impurities  in  some  senses  of  the  word.  The 
sodium  chloride  (common  salt),  for  instance,  does  very  little 
good  to  vegetation,  and  the  magnesia  chloride  does  still  less, 
but  the  magnesia  sulphate  is  of  considerable  value  in  causing 
the  perfect  seeding  of  grains  and  the  boiling  of  cotton. 
These  two  chlorides,  however,  become  of  value  when  the 
kainite  is  used  in  composting  stable  manure,  as  it  retains  the 
ammonia,  which  would  otherwise  be  lost.  They  have  an 
excellent  effect  also  when  scattered  on  stall  floors  and  feed- 
ing lots. 

Kainite  is  really  the  definite  mineral  Polyhalite , with  such 
admixture  of  soda  salts  as  naturally  would  be  deposited 
with  it  during  its  precipitation  out  of  evaporating  sea  water. 


192 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


The  chloride  salts  are  not  an  artificial  adulteration,  and 
when  kainite  is  used  in  composting,  the  chlorides  are  not  an 
adulteration  at  all. 

Carnallite  is  chloride  of  potassium  and  magnesium,  with 
water.  It  is  also  a soluble  salt,  and  its  description  is  as 
follows : 

Gravity 2.5 

Hardness 2.1 

Potassium  Chloride ..  .27  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  greasy;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white  to 
pinkish;  feel,  greasy;  elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  none; 
fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

Sylmte  is  simply  pure  chloride  of  potassium,  and  its  de- 
scriptive list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 2.0  1 Potassium 52  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.0  | Chlorine 48  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  transparent;  color,  white  or 
colorless ; feel,  greasy ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; 
fracture,  conchoidal ; texture,  crystalline. 

This  also  is  a soluble  potash  salt,  although  it  contains  no 
water  of  hydration.  All  three  of  these — kainite,  carnallite 
and  sylvite — are  “ German  potash  salts,”  but  this  name  is 
more  distinctively  applied  by  the  trade  to  the  kainite.  They 
abound  most  plentifully  at  Strassfurt  and  at  Leopoldshall,  in 
Germany,  where  they  are  found  in  beds  intermixed  with 
beds  of  rock  salt  over  a territorial  area  of  six  hundred 
square  miles.  Whether  they  are  also  to  be  found  around  our 
American  salt  regions  and  under  Great  Salt  Lake  or  the 
borax  lakes  of  the  far  West  is  not  yet  known. 

The  kainite  is  the  most  used  of  the  above  salts,  and  sells 
at  nine  to  ten  dollars  per  ton  in  Baltimore.  The  chlorides 
have  to  undergo  a treatment  with  sulphuric  acid  to  get  the 
very  best  results,  and,  therefore,  do  not  sell  so  high.  We 
think  our  feldspars  or  micas  might  be  treated  with  acid  and 
an  economical  potassium  sulphate  produced. 


Magnesium  Chloride.. 34  p.  ct. 
Water 39  p.  ct. 


SALTS  AND  FERTILIZERS. 


193 


MARL. 

This  is  the  lime  rock  of  the  tertiary  formation,  and  is  to 
this  formation  what  chalk  is  to  the  upper  secondary,  lime- 
stone to  the  lower  secondary,  and  marble  to  the  primaries. 
It  is  soft  yet,  but  if  we  pile  a few  miles  of  new  rocks  on  top 
of  it,  and  wait,  say  a few  millions  of  years,  it  will  guarantee 
any  required  degree  of  hardness.  It  is  the  work  of  those 
tireless  infusoria  who  go  on  locking  up  carbon  without  ask- 
ing themselves  when  there  will  be  no  more  unappropriated 
carbon  to  lock  up.  There  are  marls  which  contain  phos- 
phoric acid  combined  with  lime,  and  these  are  great  marls 
for  fertilizing  purposes.  They  are  generally  granular  in 
texture  and  greenish  in  color,  and  are,  therefore,  called 
“ green  sand  marls.”  The  phosphoric  acid  or  phosphate  of 
lime  is  supposed  to  come  from  the  great  deposits  of  bones 
and  fish  remains  found  in  and  about  these  marls.  There  ai$ 
other  green  marls  which  contain  iron  sulphate,  and  as  these 
sour  the  land,  the  amateur  fertilizing  farmer  had  better  look 
sharp.  The  writer  has  known,  however,  of  several  cases  in 
the  Patuxent  regions  of  Maryland  in  which  this  sour  marl 
was  spread  and  killed  everything,  but  in  the  third  year  mag- 
nificent crops  were  produced,  and  there  have  been  four  suc- 
cessive crops  since,  all  good  ones,  too ; from  which  it  would 
seem  that  exposure  to  the  weather  decomposed  the  iron  sul- 
phate and  released  the  sulphuric  acid,  which  in  turn  attacked 
the  lime  and  formed  plaster. 

This  acid  marl  in  the  tide-water  country  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  is  generally  a dirty  black,  and  sticky  when  wet,  and 
contains  lignite  coal  disseminated  all  through  it,  but  this  is 
rarely  of  any  account,  although  in  former  times  the  sul- 
phuric acid  and  alum  were  extracted  to  some  profit  while 
prices  were  high.  Above  this  black  acid  marl,  which  is 
sometimes  as  much  as  sixty  to  seventy  feet  thick,  the  true 
green  sand  marl  beds  are  found.  This  marl  is  simply  soft 
carbonate  of  lime  with  grains  of  the  green  mineral  glaucon- 
ite, which  is  a hydrous  silicate  of  iron  and  potash  which 
has  become  changed  by  phosphoric  acid  resulting  from  de- 
composition of  animal  remains. 


XIV. 

MINERAL  PAINTS. 


Ochre — Umber  — Vermilion  — Smalt  — Ultramarine — 
Aquamarine. 


^ OCHRE. 

Under  this  name  are  grouped  a number  of  substances  used 
as  paints,  but  the  iron  paints  are  the  only  ones  which  are 
legitimately  entitled  to  its  use. 

Red  Ochre  is  the  iron  ore  hematite  in  the  earthy  condition. 
Sometimes  it  is  found  naturally  in  this  condition,  and  is  then 
generally  better  than  when  prepared  by  man,  but  that  is 
because  man  is  in  too  much  of  a hurry  and  don’t  put  work 
enough  into  the  pulverization  of  the  ore.  But  there  are 
instances  where  this  work  has  been  put  into  it  by  means  of 
the  heaviest  machinery,  and  in  these  instances  the  ochre  is 
the  finest  known.  The  “ dyestone  ” ore  is  in  the  best  condi- 
tion for  pulverization.  Red  ochre  can  also  be  made  out  of 
limonite  ore  by  first  calcining  it  thoroughly  and  then  pulver- 
izing it. 

Brown  Ochre  is  magnetite  ore  thoroughly  pulverized.  It 
makes  a very  dark  and  beautiful  brown,  and  is  much  used. 

Yellow  Ochre  is  limonite  ore  thoroughly  pulverized  and  not 
calcined.  Calcining  limonite  merely  burns  out  the  water 
and  turns  tin?  ore  into  ordinary  hematite. 

It  is  obvious  that  by  mixing  these  ochres  any  shade  of 
brown,  red,  or  yellow  may  be  produced,  and  they  will  all  be 


MINERAL  PAINTS. 


195 


pure  metallic  paint,  unless  some  kaolin  or  other  adulterant 
is  put  in. 

There  has  recently  been  utilized  a long-known  deposit  of 
ochres  found  in  the  limonite  beds  on  the  Catoctin  iron  tract, 
in  Maryland,  and  these  ochres  are  turning  out  some  of  the 
most  exquisite  colors.  The  mineral  is  in  the  earthy  condi- 
tion, and  is  separated  into  different  shades  by  washing,  mix- 
ing and  settling,  after  which  it  is  dried  and  triturated  or 
ground.  The  quality  of  ochre,  apart  from  its  color,  depends 
on  the  amount  of  work  put  into  it  by  either  nature  or  man 
or  both,  and  its  price  depends  on  the  market  or  the  ability 
of  the  salesman  or  the  interests  of  the  purchaser. 

UMBER. 

This  is,  like  ochre,  a metallic  paint,  and  is.simply  pulver- 
ized manganese  oxide.  Like  ochre,  it  can  be  made  of  differ- 
ent shades  by  burning  or  not  burning  the  ores,,  and  then 
mixing  them  to  order.  It  is  also  often  mixed  with  the  ochres 
and  produces  a purplish  paint  that  is  in  high  favor.  Some- 
times a very  fine  umber  is  found  in  beds  where  it  has  been 
deposited  after  having  been  finely  pulverized  by  Mother 
Nature,  in  her  kindness,  but  yet  it  must  be  suspended  in 
water  and  cleared  of  impurities  if  wanted  for  the  finest 
work. 

VERMILION. 

This  is  another  mineral  paint,  and  is  the  mercurial  ore, 
cinnabar,  in  a finely  pulverulent  condition.  It  sometimes 
occurs  native  in  this  condition,  but  never  entirely  pure,  so 
that  man  has  to  either  sublime  the  ore  and  re-condense  it  in 
another  vessel,  leaving  the  impurities  behind,  or  he  first 
makes  pure  mercury  and  then  combines  it  with  pure  sul- 
phur, and  thus  makes  a pure  cinnabar  ore. 

Fine  vermilion  will  sometimes  lose  its  sulphur  from  some 
unknown  cause,  and  the  whole  block  will  turn  into  metallic 
mercury,  much  to  the  puzzlement  of  both  teacher  and  pupil 
in  young  ladies’  art  schools. 


196 


MINERAL  PAINTS. 


SMALT. 

Smalt  is  made  from  the  cobalt  ores,  and  is  used  for  the 
decoration  of  pottery  and  porcelain,  and  glass  staining  prin- 
cipally. The  smalt  colors  all  stand  fire  well. 

ULTRAMARINE. 

This  is  the  heavenly-blue  color  made  by  finely  pulverizing 
the  cuttings  from  the  gems  made  from  the  precious  stone 
lapis  lazuli,  and  is  a very  favorite  and  high-priced  artists’ 
paint. 

AQUAMARINE. 

This  is  the  lovely  green-blue  color  made  by  finely  pulver- 
izing the  cuttings  from  the  gems  made  from  the  bluish  beryl, 
or  aquamarine  stone. 

WHITE  AND  RED  LEAD. 

These  are  carbonates  and  oxides  of  lead,  and  must  be 
made  artificially  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
market. 

BARYTIC  PAINTS. 

These  paints  are  simply  pulverized  barytes,  or  barium  sul- 
phate. 

ZINC  WHITE. 

This  is  zinc  oxide,  and  is  made  artificially. 


XV. 

GRITS  AND  SPARS. 


Tripoli — Corundum — Emery — Novaculite — Barytes — 
Feldspar — Fluorspar — Cryolite — Strontia. 


TRIPOLI. 

This  is  an  earth  more  or  less  hard  and  compacted  into  a 
semblance  of  rock.  It  is  composed  of  the  shells  of  diatoms 
and  other  infusoria  which  use  silica  for  sliell-building. 
Other  varieties  of  infusoria  use  lime  and  carbonic  acid,  and 
build  up  limestones  when  they  drop  their  shells  to  the  sea 
bottoms. 

The  merest  speck  of  tripoli,  barely  visible  to  the  naked 
eye,  if  placed  under  a powerful  microscope,  will  be  seen  to 
be  composed  of  some  dozens  of  curious  little  shapes, 
spicules,  wheels,  tripods,  etc.  Each  one  of  these  is  a shell, 
and  formerly  contained  an  animal. 

These  tripolis  occur  in  beds,  extending  over  square  miles 
in  area  and  of  many  feet  in  thickness.  They  are  mostly 
found  among  the  beds  of  the  tertiary  formation,  but  there 
are  some  in  the  upper  secondaries.  The  lowlands  called 
“ Tidewater”  Virginia  and  Maryland,  contain  great  quanti- 
ties of  tripoli ; and  it  is  also  found  in  Missouri  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  among  the  tertiaries  of  the  Rocky  mountains, 
as  electro-silicon. 

It  is  used  as  an  adulterant  in  fertilizers,  and  is  of  some 
use  owing  to  the  presence  of  ancient  animal  matter  in  the 


198 


GRITS  AND  SPARS. 


shells,  shown  by  the  odor  when  wet.  It  is  also  used  for 
polishing  powders,  the  coarser  kinds  being  made  up  into 
bricks,  and  the  finer  grades  being  suspended  in  water  like 
porcelain  clay,  and  assorted  into  sizes  by  precipitation  in 
different  tanks. 

It  is  also  one  of  the  main  ingredients  in  many  patent 
soaps  which  have  a gritty  feel,  and  are  great  cleaners  and 
polishers. 

CORUNDUM. 

This  is  pure  alumina,  and  is  the  hardest  known  substance 
next  to  diamond. 

Gravity 4.0  I Aluminum 53  p.  ct. 

Hardness 9.0  j Oxygen 47  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  sub- translucent ; color,  white, 
gray,  yellow,  red;  feel,  harsh;  elasticity,  brittle  but  tough; 
cleavage,  imperfect ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  aluminum  oxide  or  alumina  is  the  same  material 
that  shows  up  as  sapphire,  ruby,  etc.,  under  certain  con- 
ditions, and  these  are  described  in  the  chapter  on  Precious 
Stones.  Corundum  is  not  transparent,  and  its  lustre  is  dull, 
and  its  colors  are  not  brilliant.  It  is  found  among  the 
crystalline  rocks  (primaries),  and  its  special  home  is  with 
chrysolite.  In  Western  Carolina,  Northern  Georgia  and 
Eastern  Alabama  it  is  found  plentifully  in  crystals,  ranging 
in  size  from  a mere  grain  up  to  several  hundred  pounds 
weight. 

Emery  is  an  impure  corundum,  the  impurity  being  iron, 
either  as  magnetite  or  hematite,  and  the  quantities  being 
in  various  proportions.  Emery  looks  like  black  iron  sand, 
and  it  is  found  in  corundum  neighborhoods.  It  will  scratch 
quartz,  which  iron  sand  will  not  do,  and  it  is  also  some- 
what lighter  in  weight  than  iron  sand.  Sometimes  it  is 
slightly  magnetic. 

Corundum  and  emery  vary  very  much  in  price.  Seventy 
dollars  a ton  has  been  often  paid  for  both  of  them,  and  half 


GRITS  AND  SPARS. 


199 


of  that  price  lias  been  often  welcomed  by  producers.  They 
are  used  as  cutting  and  polishing  powders,  the  powders  of 
assorted  sizes  being  made  up  into  wheels  like  grindstones  by 
cementing  and  molding.  Corundum  is  harder  than  emery, 
but  emery  is  the  most  useful  for  many  purposes,  as  it  frac- 
tures into  grains  with  sharp-cutting  edges,  whereas  corundum 
grains  are  apt  to  be  roundish. 

NOYACULITE. 

This  is  the  Arkansas  whetstone,  and  comes  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Hot  Springs,  where  there  is  a ridge  of  it  reach- 
ing many  miles  to  Rockport,  on  the  Ouachita  River.  It  is  a 
white  massive  silica,  and  much  of  it  is  almost  in  the  condi- 
tion of  horns  tone.  It  is  made  into  the  finest  honestones  or 
the  coarsest  whetstones,  and  all  intermediate  grades,  by 
proper  selection  from  the  stock,  but  much  of  it  is  too  much 
shattered  by  natural  causes  to  be  fit  for  any  use  except  pul- 
verization, to  mix  with  flint  glass  or  china  stock. 

BARYTES. 

This  is  called  Heavy  Spar  also,  on  account  of  its  great 
specific  gravity.  It  descriptive  list  is  as  follows : 

Gravity 4.5  I Baryta 66  p.  ct 

Hardness 3.1  | Sulphuric  Acid 34  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent  to  opaque ; color, 
white,  yellowish,  reddish,  bluish;  feel,  smooth  to  harsh; 
elasticity,  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  uneven; 
texture,  tabular. 

Barytes  is  principally  used  as  an  adulterant  of  white 
lead,  but  it  makes  the  body  of  a very  good  paint  of  its  own. 
“Pure  barytic  white  lead”  was  a “trade-mark”  which  the 
painters  enjoyed  some  years  ago.  The  heavy  twelve-pound 
paper  upon  which  these  words  are  being  written  is  surfaced 
and  weighted  with  baryta  instead  of  the  usual  kaolin,  and 
there  is  a growing  demand  for  it  among  the  paper  mills. 

Carbonate  of  baryta  is  very  similar  to  the  sulphate  in 
nearly  all  respects,  but  it  is  a virulent  poison,  and  should 


200 


GRITS  AND  SPARS. 


be  handled  cautiously.  It  is  found  nearly  everywhere  that 
barytes  is  found,  and  it  is  now  coming  into  use  exten- 
sively as  a substitute  for  the  more  expensive  soda  car- 
bonate in  glass-making.  A little  sulphuric  acid  put  on  the 
carbonate  will  cause  it  to  froth  and  effervesce,  but  will  not 
so  affect  the  barytes. 

Barytes  occurs  in  veins  in  all  the  primary  and  lower 
secondary  rocks.  Some  veins  are  filled  with  it,  and  others 
have  very  little,  but  it  is  nearly  always  there. 

FELDSPAR. 

There  are  many  feldspars,  the  principal  ones  being 
Anorthite , Labradoritey  Alhite,  Oligoclase , Orthoclase , Andesite. 
The  orthoclase  is  the  most  abundant,  and  is,  therefore, 
selected  for  description. 


Gravity . . 
Hardness 
Silica. . .. 


.2.7  to  2.9 
,5.8  to  6.1 
.65  p.  ct. 


Alumina. 
Potassa. 
Dirt,  etc. 


.17  p.  ct. 
17  p.  ct. 
1 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly  to  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent ; color, 
white,  red,  green,  pink ; feel,  smooth  to  harsh ; elasticity, 
brittle ; cleavage,  perfect  in  three  directions ; fracture,  un- 
even ; texture,  tabular. 

Albite  is  the  soda  felspar,  and  contains  silica  69  per  cent., 
alumina  20  and  soda  11. 

Anorthite  is  the  lime  feldspar,  and  contains  silica  43  per 
cent.,  alumina  3?  and  lime  20. 

Labradorite  is  lime  soda  feldspar,  containing  silica  53, 
alumina  30,  lime  12  and  soda  5 per  cent. 

Andesite  is  also  lime  soda  feldspar,  containing  silica  60, 
alumina  25,  lime  7 and  soda  8 per  cent. 

Oligoclase  is  also  lime  soda  feldspar,  containing  silica  62, 
alumina  24,  lime  5 and  soda  9 per  cent. 

Ilyalophane  is  barytie  potash  feldspar,  containing  silica  53, 
alumina  21,  baryta  15,  potash  8,  soda,  etc.,  3 per  cent. 

The  potash  feldspar  is  the  great  source  from  which  all  our 
potash  comes  originally,  and  potash  is  made  from  it  even 
nowadays  by  man,  although  Nature  has  done  so  much  for 


GRITS  AND  SPARS. 


201 


him  by  decomposing  the  feldspar  and  allowing  the  potash  to 
get  into  the  soil  and  thence  into  vegetation. 

Any  of  these  feldspars  are  used  by  the  makers  of  what  is 
called  “ granite  ware ” and  “ stone  ware  ” and  “ stone  china.” 
They  grind  it  to  impalpable  powder  and  float  it  in  wTater  in 
vats  just  as  the  fine  kaolin  is  treated,  and  they  thus  hurry 
up  Nature  and  get  a clay  that  is  very  nearly  kaolin,  without 
awaiting  decomposition.  Good  clear  feldspars  are  worth 
from  three  to  five  dollars  per  ton,  delivered  at  the  potteries. 

FLUORSPAR. 

This  is  fluoride  of  lime,  or,  properly  speaking,  calcium 
fluoride.  Its  points  are : 

Gravity .3.0  I Calcium.. 51  p.  ct. 

Hardness 4.0  Fluorine.... ........ ...49  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous ; clearness,  translucent ; color,  white, 
yellow,  green,  blue,  red,  but  streak  is  always  white;  feel, 
rough;  elasticity,  brittle  to  sectile;  cleavage,  perfect;  frac- 
ture, conchoidal  to  uneven ; texture,  granular,  crystalline. 

This  spar  is  much  softer  than  quartz  or  feldspar,  and  is 
thus  easily  recognized.  Its  colors  are  many,  and  the  spar 
itself  is  much  used  as  a substance  out  of  which  to  carve 
inkstands,  paper  weights,  and  all  sorts  of  odds  and  ends ; 
while  the  Chinese  carve  very  respectable  little  devils  and 
idols  out  of  it.  It  is  also  the  chief  source  of  the  fluoric 
acid  used  in  the  arts,  and  sells  at  from  five  to  ten  dollars 
per  ton.  It  is  found  in  beds  and  veins  and  disseminated 
crystals  among  the  rocks  of  the  primary  formation  and  the 
lower  secondaries. 

Cryolite  is  fluoride  of  aluminum  and  sodium,  and  its  de- 
scriptive list  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 3.0  I Aluminum .13  p.  ct. 

Hardness 2.5  | Sodium 33  p.  ct. 

Fluorine 54  p.  ct.  j 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white; 
feel,  smooth ; elasticity,  brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture, 
uneven  to  conchoidal ; texture,  massive,  crystalline. 


202 


GRITS  AND  SPARS. 


The  glassmakers  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania  pay  sometimes 
thirty  dollars  a ton  for  this  spar.  It  all  comes  from  a large 
vein  in  gneiss  rocks,  in  Greenland,  at  the  present  time,  but  it 
has  never  been  systematically  hunted  for  in  our  own  country, 
and,  therefore,  it  has  not  been  found.  Nine-tenths  of  it  that 
comes  here  is  snowy- white. 

STRONTIA. 

This  is  the  name  commonly  given  to  the  nitrate  of  strontia, 
very  much  used  in  the  making  of  fireworks.  It  does  not 
occur  native,  but  is  derived  from  the  following  minerals : 

Celestite  is  sulphate  of  strontia,  and  its  descriptive  list  is  as 
follows : 

Gravity 3.9  to  4.0  I Strontia 56  p.  ct. 

Hardness 3.0  to  3.4  Sulphuric  Acid 44  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  bluish- 

white  to  reddish- white ; feel,  rough ; elasticity,  brittle ; 

cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  fibrous,  gran- 
ular. 

This  mineral  is  very  handsome^being  of  just  a faint  shade 
of  heavenly-blue;  hence  its  name.  It  does  not  effervesce 
under  acids,  and  is  found  among  the  secondary  formations, 
also  in  volcanic  countries. 

Strontianite  is  carbonate  of  strontia,  its  descriptive  list  is  : 

Gravity v 3.6  I Strontia 70  p.  ct.. 

Hardness 3.8  Carbonic  Acid 30  p.  ct. 

Lustre*  vitreous,  resinous;  clearness,  translucent;  color, 
gray,  white,  yellow,  pale  green ; feel,  smoothisli ; elasticity, 
brittle ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  fibrous, 
granular,  tabular. 

This  strontian  mineral  effervesces  under  application  of 
acids.  Both  this  and  celestite  color  the  flame  red  when 
burnt,  and  both  minerals  occur  in  the  same  neighborhoods. 


XVI. 

OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 


Alum — Asbestos — Soapstone — Talc — Sulphur — Graph- 
ite— Asphalt — W ax — Mica. 


alum. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  alum,  but  the  one  in  common 
use  is  the  sulphate  of  potash  and  alumina.  The  other  alums 
are  those  in  which  the  potash  is  replaced  by  soda  or  some 
other  alkaline  base.  Among  these  the  ammonia  alum  comes 
next  in  importance  to  the  potash  alum  here  described : 

Gravity 1.7  Aluminous  Sulphate.  .36  p.  ct. 

_ Hardness 1.2  Water 46  p.  ct. 

Potash  Sulphate 18  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  vitreous;  clearness,  translucent;  color,  white; 
feel,  smooth;  elasticity,  brittle  to  s^ctile;  cleavage,  imper- 
fect ; fracture,  uneven ; texture,  crystalline ; taste,  jpuck- 
erish. 

Alum  occurs  native  among  some  of  the  lower  Silurian 
rocks  and  shales  in  Virginia,  and  among  these  and  the  pri- 
mary shales  in  many  other  localities.  In  England  there  are 
beds  of  shales  among  the  tertiary  formations,  which  shales 
contain  the  true  potash  alum.  The  owners  roast  the  shales, 
leach  out  the  alum  with  water,  and  then  crystallize  the  alum 
after  evaporation.  In  this  country  these  shales  have  not 
been  found,  but  that  is  probably  because  no  proper  search 
has  been  made. 


204 


OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 


Much  American  alum  is  made  along  the  Ohio  River  by 
burning  and  leaching  the  slates  and  shales  of  the  coal 
measures,  and  “cutting”  with  potash  the  solution  of  sul- 
phate of  alumina  so  obtained.  In  France  and  Germany  the 
sulphate  of  alumina  is  treated  with  solutions  of  the  kainite 
and  carnallite  potash  salts  from  the  Strassfurt  mines,  in  Ger- 
many, and  even  our  Ohio  River  alum-boilers  are  now  begin- 
ning to  buy  these  potash  salts  instead  of  making  their  own 
ashes.  There  is  a large  amount  of  ammonia  alum  made  in 
Philadelphia  by  using  the  waste  ammonia  from  gas  works. 


ASBESTOS. 

This  mineral  is  cousin  to  hornblende,  which  was  described 
among  compound  minerals,  but  differs  in  composition,  etc., 
somewhat.  Its  points  are : 


Gravity 3.0  to  3.5 

Hardness not  constant 

Silica 59  p.  ct. 


Magnesia 39  p.  ct. 

Lime 6 p.  ct. 

Alnmina  and  Iron 6 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly;  clearness,  sub-translucent  to  opaque; 
color,  gray,  white,  yellowish,  greenish;  feel,  smooth  to 
greasy;  elasticity,  flexible;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  un- 
even ; texture,  fibrous. 

There  is  a variety  of  this  in  foliated  texture,  the  sheets 
being  made  up  of  fibres  interwoven ; and  this  kind  probably 
gave  the  first  idea  of  making  fire-proof  cloth  by  weaving 
the  fibrous  varieties.  Some  of  these  finer  varieties  are  so 
light  that  they  will  float  on  water,  and  the  figure  for  specific 
gravity  given  above  does  not  apply. 

Very  fine  asbestos  is  of  very  considerable  but  very  change- 
able value,  as  the  price  which  can  be  realized  depends  on  the 
humors  and  fancies  of  one  or  two  men  who  have  bought  or 
leased  most  of  the  valuable  known  deposits,  and  thus,  with 
the  aid  of  certain  patented  processes,  they  control  the  asbestos 
industry  of  this  country.  They  make  roofing  paper,  fire- 
proof writing  paper,  boiler  and  pipe  coverings,  and  fire-proof 
paints  out  of  it. 

Asbestos  is  to  be  looked  for  among  the  primary  rocks,  and 


OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 


205 


particularly  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  serpentine  dykes 
and  hills.  A cousin  of  this  mineral  is  Steatite  or  Soapstone, 
which  was  referred  to,  under  the  name  of  Talc,  among  com- 
pound minerals.  The  finer  varieties  of  soapstone  are 
valuable  also  for  fire-proofing  purposes;  whole  stoves  are 
made  out  of  slabs  of  this  stone,  and  they  give  out  a much 
healthier  heat  than  iron  plates.  By  treating  the  soapstone 
with  sulphuric  acid,  sulphate  of  magnesia  (Epsom  salts)  is 
made  in  some  countries. 

TALC. 

This  group  contains  French  Chalk,  Meerschaum,  Steatite  or 
Soapstone,  and  Talc,  which  is  here  described : 

Gravity 2.4  to  2.7  Magnesia 32  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.0  to  1.2  Water 4 p.  ct. 

Silica 64  p.  ct. 

Lustre,  pearly;  clearness,  translucent  to  opaque;  color, 
white,  gray,  green,  brown;  feel,  greasy;  elasticity,  flexible 
to  brittle;  cleavage,  perfect;  fracture,  conchoidal  to  even; 
texture,  massive,  granular,  or  foliated,  sometimes  looks  like 
starry  radiations  as  seen  in  magnesian  marble. 

Talc  is  the  most  abundant  of  all  the  great  magnesian  sili- 
cates. The  principal  gold  regions  of  the  world  are  among 
the  talcose  slates  of  the  primary  formation. 

SULPHUR. 

This  is  sometimes  called  Brimstone , and  it  is  not  so  long 
ago  that  it  Was  popularly  supposed  to  have  reached  the 
earth’s  surface  by  being  blown  out  through  the  volcanic 
chimneys  of  the  Inferno,  during  stirring  times  down  there, 
caused  by  the  chief  engineer  encouraging  his  lazy  firemen. 
Its  description  is  as  follows  : 

Gravity 2.0  I Sulphur 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness ..2.0 

Lustre,,  resinous  to  vitreous;  clearness,  sub-translucent; 
color,  yellow,  faintly  greenish;  feel,  smooth;  elasticity, 
sectile  to  brittle ; cleavage,  imperfect ; fracture,  conchoidal ; 
texture,  massive,  crystalline. 


206 


OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 


Sulphur  is  found  native  in  many  localities,  but  principally 
in  the  neighborhood  of  volcanoes,  active  or  extinct.  It 
exists  also  among  the  clays  and  marls  of  the  tertiary  forma- 
tions, sometimes  native,  but  mostly  as  sulphate  of  iron  or 
free  sulphuric  acid.  The  great  beds  of  gypsum  (sulphate  of 
lime)  contain-  probably  more  sulphur  than  all  other  forma- 
tions on  the  earth’s  surface. 

Sulphur  is  obtained  by  melting  the  volcanic  rocks  and  ashy 
masses  containing  it,  and  the  sulphur  runs  out  like  melting 
lead  out  of  galena.  Sometimes  it  is  distilled  in  vapor  and 
condensed  as  pure  “ flowers  of  sulphur.”  It  is  also  made 
from  iron  pyrite  ores ; but  as  these  ores  are  chemical  com- 
pounds and  not  mere  mixtures,  the  sulphur  takes  up  oxygen 
and  the  proceeses  become  intricate  and  require  a chemist. 

The  demand  for  sulphur  for  use  in  acid-making  is  recently 
being  interfered  with  by  the  men  who  burn  iron  pyrite  ores 
for  this  purpose. 

GRAPHITE. 

This  is  generally  called  Black  Lead  or  Plumbago , and  its 
description  is  this : 

Gravity 2.0  to  2.2  I Carbon 100  p.  ct. 

Hardness 1.2  to  1.9  | t 

Lustre,  metallic  ; clearness,  opaque ; color,  black ; feel, 
greasy;  elasticity,  sectile  to  flexible;  cleavage,  perfect; 
fracture,  uneven  ; texture,  foliated. 

Sometimes  its  texture  is  earthy,  with  little  or  no  lustre; 
but  it  becomes  lustrous  when  rubbed.  It  is  never  actually 
pure,  there  being  always  a little  iron  or  other  grit  mixed  up 
with  it.  In  order  to  use  it  for  the  making  of  lead  pencils, 
and  for  lubricating  purposes,  it  must  be  suspended  in  water, 
like  the  finest  porcelain  clay ; when  the  grit,  being  heavier, 
drops  to  the  bottom,  and  the  liquid  is  drawn  off  to  other 
tanks.  Sometimes  it  is  ground  and  floated  off  several  times, 
to  make  the  leads  for  finer  grade  pencils.  The  sediment  is 
mixed  with  very  little  refined  clay  for  soft  pencils,  and  with 
more  for  harder  pencils,  and  is  squirted  out  of  a syringe, 
and  cut  off  at  proper  lengths. 


OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 


207 


Graphite  is  the  best  material  known  for  making  unburna- 
ble  crucibles  out  of,  although  it  is  really  the  earliest  of 
the  coal  formations.  It  is  found  down  among  the  primary 
rocks,  and,  although  the  good  beds  of  it  are  owned  by  the 
present  monopolies,  yet  there  may  be  other  good  beds  found 
and  other  monopolies  formed. 

ASPHALT. 

Asphalt  is  a hydro-carbon,  and  is  found  in  such  situations, 
in  this  country,  as  to  justify  the  belief  that  it  is  the  solid 
portion  of  petroleum  left  after  the  evaporation  of  the  vola- 
tile portion.  The  great  Pitch  Lake,  in  Trinidad,  however, 
is  believed,  by  many  observers,  to  be  merely  an  ancient  peat- 
bog, which,  under  tropical  or  subterranean  heat,  has  been 
melted  into  pitch  and  asphalt,  instead  of  having  been  com- 
pacted into  lignite  or  coal.  It  varies  considerably  in  its 
composition  and  physical  features,  so  we  will  not  attempt  to 
give  a descriptive  list  of  it,  but  will  merely  recommend  our 
readers  to  secure  quickly  any  deposit  of  any  substance  that 
looks  and  smells  like  pitch  or  tar,  as  it  is  likely  to  be  asphalt, 
and  is  becoming  more  valuable  yearly. 

In  Europe  there  are  beds  of  limestone,  containing  a per- 
centage of  asphalt,  distributed  all  through  the  stone,  and 
this  stone,  crushed  and  molded  into  blocks,  or  crushed  and 
rolled  hot  in  place,  is  the  basis  of  the  now  fashionable 
Parisian  pavement.  These  limestones  are  in  the  secondary 
formations,  and  it  would  be  well  to  keep  an  eye  open  for 
similar  beds  in  this  country.  The  skunk  limestones  of  the 
Devonian  rocks,  in  Tennessee,  may  turn  out  to  be  worth 
something  in  this  direction.  The  artificial  asphalt  block 
pavement,  when  made  of  anhydrous  non-crystalline  limestone 
and  well-burned  asphalt,  is  a really  first-class  pavement. 

Mineral  Wax , sometimes  called  ozokerite  and  other  hard 
names,  is,  like  paraffine,  derived  from  petroleum,  but  by 
natural  processes  instead  of  artificial,  and  is  to  be  looked  for 
in  rock  cavities  from  which  oil  has  escaped  or  evaporated. 
It  is  in  great  demand  among  the  electricians  for  insulating 
purposes 


208 


OTHER  VALUABLE  MINERALS. 


MICA. 

This  is  a large  group,  the  principal  members  of  which  are 
named  Biotite , Phlogopite  and  Muscovite.  The  latter  is  the 
most  common  and  abundant,  and  is  selected  for  description. 


Gravity 2.7  to  3.1 

Hardness 2.0  to  2.5 

Alumina 34  p.  ct. 

Silica 47  p.  ct. 


Potassa. 9 p.  ct. 

Water ..4  p.  ct. 

Sundries 0 p.  ct. 


Lustre,  pearly ; clearness,  translucent  to  transparent ; 
color,  white,  green,  yellow,  black ; feel,  smooth  ; elasticity, 
flexible  to  elastic ; cleavage,  perfect ; fracture,  uneven ; 
texture,  foliated. 

The  coloring  matter  of  the  micas  is  usually  iron,  and 
often  a part  of  the  potassa  is  replaced  by  soda.  Mica  is  one 
of  the  principal  ingredients  of  the  true  granite,  in  which 
rock  it  is  easily  distinguished  in  little  bundles  of  plates  or 
scales.  Sometimes  it  is  in  large  pockets  in  granite  or  gneiss 
rocks,  and  then  can  be  split  up  into  transparent  plates, 
which  are  used  for  stove  plates  or  windows.  Some  people 
call  it  isinglass. 


INDEX 


•4* 


Page. 


Page. 


Acanthi  te 

Actinolite 

Agate 

Age  of  Coal 

“ Fishes.... 

“ Fungi 

“ Mammals. 

Man 

“ Mollusks. 

“ Reptiles.. 
Agglomerate  .... 

Aquamarine 

Aqueous  Rocks.., 
Alabama  Coal..., 

Alabaster 

Alaska  Diamond 

Albite 

Allanite 

Alum  

Alum  Shales 

Alumina 

Aluminum 

Amalgam 

Amber 

Ambligonite 

Amethyst 

Amherst  Stone 

Ammonia 

Amphibole 

Amygdaloid 

Andesite 

Anglesite 

Anhydrite 

Ankerite 

Anorthite 

Anthracite.  

Anticlinal  

Antimonial  Glance... 
Antimonial  Silver.... 

Antimonite 

Antimony 

Apatite 

Aphrodite 

Argentite 

Arsenopyrite 

Artificial  Stone 

Asbestos 

Asphalt 

Asphalt  Blocks 

Asphaltic  Limestones 


113 

18 

142 

41 

48 

48 

49 

49 

48 

49 

23 

146,  196 

36 

68 

.143, 186 
.....145 
.18,  200 

19 

203 

204 


..17,  198 

141 

139 

114 

188 

115 

170 

185 

18 

22 

..18,  200 

125 

186 

87 

..18,  200 
59 


. 77,  78 
.. ..138 
....113 
. . . .138 
....137 
....187 
....155 
....109 
....  88 
....175 
18,  204 
....207 
....207 
....207 


Atomic  Weights.. 

Atoms 

Augite 

Azurite 

Bad  Lands 

Barytes 

Barytic  Paint 

Basalt  

Bastite 

Bauxite 

Beads 

Bell  Metal 

Berea  Stone 

Beryl 

Bicarbonates 

Bicromates . 

Big  Vein 

Binaries 

Biotite 

Bituminous 

Black  Band 

Black  Copper 

Black  Granite 

Black  Iron...  .... 

Black  Jack. 

Black  Lead 

Blanket  Lodes..., 

Block  Coal 

Blow  Outs 

Blue  Spar 

Blue  Stone 

Bog  Ore 

Bonanza 

Borax 

Boracite 

Bornite 

Bort 

Boulangerite 

Boulder  Clay 

Bouronite 

Breccia 

Brick  Clay 

Brimstone 

Brown  Hematite. 

Brown  Ochre 

Brown  Stone 

Caking  Coal 

Calamine 

Calcite 

Calcium  Fluoride 


..11, 15 

14 

19 

164 

43 

199 

196 

22 

.20, 163 
178, 180 
. ....  147 

122 

170 

146 

183 

135 

70 

16 

17 

58 

86 

119 

30 

83 

126 

206 

54 

..61,  68 

54 

154 

171 

86 

55 

184 

184 

119 

151 

124 

45 

.....124 

167 

177 

205 

85 

194 

.42,  169 

63 

127 

.33,  165 
201 


INDEX 


Page. 


Calico  Rock 107 

Calomel 140 

Cannel  Coal 00,  08 

Carbon 56 

Carbonate  Copper 104 

“ Iron 86 

“ Lead 124 

“ Lime 40,168 

“ Magnesia. 33,166 

“ Manganese 91 

“ Soda 183 

“ Zinc 128 

Carbonite 151 

Carnallite 192 

Carnelian 146 

Carolina  Phosphate 189 

Carrara  Marble 167 

Cassiterite 121 

Cataclysm 27 

Catoctin  Paint 195 

Cat’s  Eye 156 

Celestite 202 

Cement 174 

Cerargyrite 110 

Cerolite 20, 163 

Cerusite 124 

Chalcedonic  148,  147 

Chal  cocite 118 

Chalcopyrite 117 

Chalk 41 

Chalk,  French 20 

Chalybite 86 

China  Clay 179 

Chinese  Devils 201 

Chlorides  Magnesia 192 

“ Mercury 140 

“ Potash 192 

“ Silver 110 

“ Sodium 182 

Chlorite 21 

Chloropal 155 

Chrome  134 

Chromite -135 

Chrome  Steel 134 

Chrysoberyl 147 

Chrysocalla 120 

Chrysolite 21 

Chrysoprase 148 

Cincinnati  Rise 35,  70 

Cinnabar 139 

Cinnamon  Stone 153 

Clausthalite 126 

Clay 43,  177 

Clay  Iron  Stone 86 

Clearness 7 

Cleavage 7 

Cleveland  Stone  Co 170 

Coal 41,  56 

Coal — Anthracite 59 

“ Bituminous 58 


Page. 

Coal — Block 61,  68 

“ Cannel 60,  68 

“ Splint 61,  68 

Cobalt 133 

Cobalt  Bloom 134 

Cobalt  Pyrite 133 

Cobaltite 133 

Coke 63 

Coking  Coals 63 

Color 9 

Compounds 16 

Conglomerate 23 

Contact  Veins 53 

Copper 116 

Copper  Glance.-..-. 118 

Copper  Nickel 131 

Copper  Pyrite ...117 

Coprolites 189 

Core  Rock 25 

Corundum 198 

Crucibles 207 

Cryolite 201 

Cumberland  Cement 177 

Cuprite 119 

Cutting  and  Filling 27 

Deep  River 73 

Density 9 

Deposit 50 

Diallage 19 

Diamond  148 

Diatoms 38, 197 

Dinas 181 

Diorite 23 

Dog-tooth  Spar 166 

Dolerite . 23 

Dolomite .33, 165, 166 

Drift  Clay 45 

Dry  Bone 138 

Dyestone 81 

Dykes 51 

Dysclasite  113 

Earthquakes 25 

Easter  Island 26 

Egyptian  Granite 30 

Elastic  Sandstone 33, 170 

Elasticity  7 

Electro  Silicon 197 

Elements 11 

Emerald 151 

Emery 198 

Enargite 117 

Energy 13 

Eozoic 48 

Eozoon 48 

Epidote 19 

Equator 24 

Eruptive  Rocks 24 

Fahlerz 118 

False  Coals 65 

False  Topaz 145,160 


INDEX 


Page. 


Page, 


Fayallite 21 

Feel 6 

Feldspar 18,  200 

Ferro-Manganese 00 

Ferruginous  Cement 149,  150 

Filling  and  Cutting 27 

Fire  Clay 178 

Fire  Opal 156 

Fishes 48 

Fissure  Veins 51 

Flexible  Sandstone 150 

Flint 147 

Floatstone 156 

Flowers  Sulphur 206 

Fluoride 201 

Fluorspar 201 

Fossil  Earmarks 47 

Fossiliferous  Iron 84 

Fracture 9 

Franklinite 83 

Free  Gold 97 

Freeport  Coal 69 

French  Chalk 20,  205 

Frieslebenite 114 

Fuller’s  Earth 180 

Fungi 48 

Gahnite 129 

Galena 123 

Garnet 152 

Gas 76 

Gas  Prospects 76 

Gas  Rocks. 76 

Gas  Springs 76 

Gash  Veins 53 

Genthite 132 

Geological  Chart 29 

Geological  Column 28 

Glacial  Period 45 

Globe  Shrinkage 25 

Gneiss 31, 172 

Gold 93 

Gold  Placers 104 

Gold  Saving 102 

Gold  Slates 99 

Gold  Testing 105 

Gossan 89, 119 

Gothite 86 

Granite 30,  171 

Granite  Ware 201 

Graphite 206 

Gravel 44 

Gravity 9 

Gray  Antimony. 138 

Gray  Copper 118 

Great  Conglomerate 67,169 

Green  Sand 44, 193 

Green  Stone 23 

Greenland  Spar 202 

Grits * 197 

Gdcunanite 132 


Guano  

Gymnite 

Gypsum 

Halite 

Hardness 

Heavy  Spar 

Hematite 

Hone  Ore 

Ilonestone 

Horn  Silver 

Hornblende 

Ilornstone 

Hot  Springs  Crystals 

Huronian 

Hyacinth 

Hyalophane 

Hydrargyrite 

Hydration 

Hydrocarbon 

Hydrozincite 

Hypar^yrite 

Iceland  Spar 

Igneous  Rocks 

Inferno 

Infusoria 

Iridium 

Iron 

Iron  Carbonate 

Iron  Pyrite 

Ironclad  

Ironstone 

Isinglass 

Ilvaite 

Itacolumite 

Jade 

Jasper 

Jasper  Opal 

Jet 

Kainite 

Kaolin 

Kidney  Ore 

Kidney  Stone 

Kittanning  Coal 

Labradorian 

Labradorite 

Lapis  Lazuli 

Laurentian 

Lava 

Lazulite 

Lead 

Lead  Carbonate 

Lead  Chloride 

Leadhillite 

Lead  Pencils 

Lead  Sulphide 

Lenticular  Veins 

Leucagite 

Lignite 

Lime 

Limestone 


189 

20, 163 

186 

182 

8 

199 

83 

86 

199 

110 

18 

447 

145 

34 

152 

200 

140 

39 

76 

128 

113 

166 

22 

205 

38,  197 

140 

82 

86 

88 

27 

84 

17,  208 

19 

.33,  150,  170 

161 

153 

156 

145 

191 

18, 179 

86 

161 

69 

34 

18,  200 

161 

34 

22 

154 

123 

124 

125 

125 

206 

123 

51 

19 

62,  74 

16 

40,  168 


INDEX 


Page. 

Limonite 85 

Page. 

Nitrate  Potash  184 

Lithographic  Stone 168 

Loadstones.. 83 

Nitrate  Soda 184 

Nitre iQ/i 

Lodes 54 

Normal  Coal  5g 

Lower  Coals 67 

North  River  RlnA  Stnn r» 

Lustre 5 

Novaenlite  199 

Magnesia 16 

Obsidian  00 

Magnesite 33, 165,  166 

Ochre 194 

Magnesian  Silicate 20,205 

Oil 76 

Magnetic  Pyrite 88, 130 

Magnetite 83 

Mahoning  Sandstone 70, 169 

Oil  Breaks 76 

Oil  Prospects 76 

Oil  RockR T...  ,,  76 

Malachite 164 

Oil  Springs  79 

Malacolite 19 

OlicrnpInQA  IQ  o/Vk 

Mammals 49 

Onw ikk 

Mammoth  Vein 70 

Manganese 90 

Manganese  Glance 90 

Manganite .90  91 

Oolite 38, 168 

Opal 156 

Oriental  Amethyst 159 

Oriental  Emerald  159  159 

Martde 33, 165 

Oriental  Rnhv  IK'T 

Marcasite 88 

Oriental  Tnnn?  ikq  iah 

Margarite 21 

On  cilrOD  v Soprlafonn  "1  AO 

Marl 44, 193 

Marmolite 20, 163 

Matter 13 

Orthoclase 18,  200 

Osmium  140 

Ost.eolite  -jftQ 

Medina  Sandstone 169 

Onva.rovite  153 

Meerschaum 20,  154,  205 

Melaconite 119 

Oxide  Copper 118 

41  Tron  £13 

Menaccanite 84 

Mercury 138 

Metamorphic  Rocks 27 

Mexican  Onyx 164 

“ Manganese 91 

“ Nickel 132 

“ Tin 121 

7inf>  lO'T 

Miargyrite 113 

O/nrlr  ^5 

Mica 17  208 

Ozokerite  997 

Millerite 131 

Palisades  99 

Millstone  Grit 67, 169 

Mimetite 126 

Mineral  Compounds 16 

Mineral  Paints 194 

Mineral  Wax 207 

Molecules 14 

Paraffine 61,  68 

Parian  Marble 167 

Parisian  Pavement. . 207 

Paving  Stone 172 

Peacock  Coal 58 

Peat,  . 6° 

Mollusks 48 

Pegmatite  39 

Montalban 34 

Penninit.e  91 

Monticellite 21 

Mundic 88 

Muscovite 17 

Peroxide  Manganese 90 

Petrified  Wood 157 

Petroleum  79 

Native  Silver 108 

Phlogopite  47 

Natives ; 16 

PhosP'enite  405 

Natural  Cement 176 

Natural  Coke 64 

Phosphates 187 

Pitch  Take  097 

Natural  Gas 76 

Needle  Ore 84 

Nephrite 161 

Pittsburgh  Coal 71 

Plaster 186 

Pla.tinnm  140 

New#  Red  Sandstone 72 

Nickel 130 

Nickel  Bloom 132 

Nickel  Glance 132 

Nickel  Pyrite 131 

Nickelite . . ..131 

Plumbago 206 

Polybasite 113 

Polyhalite 191 

Porcelain  Clay 18,  179 

Porphyry 23,  172 

Nitrate  Lime 184 

Portland  Cement 176 

INDEX 


Page. 

Potash 16, 190 

Potomac  Red  Sandstone. . .169, 170 

Potsdam  Sandstone 169 

Potter’s  Clay 178 

Prase 145 

Precious  Serpentine 20, 163 

Primaries 34 

Primary  Formation 27 

Prochlorite 21 

Protogene 30. 171 

Proustite 112 

Psilomelane 91 

Pumice 22 

Purple  Copper 119 

Pyrargyrite 112 

Pyrites— Antimony 138 

Cobalt 133 

Copper 117 

Iron 88 

Lead 123 

Manganese 90 

Mercury 139 

Nicker. 131 

Tin 122 

Zinc 126 

Pyrolusite 90 

Pyromorphite 126 

Pyroxene 19 

Pvrrhotite 88,  130 

Quartz 17 

Quartz  Gold 97 

Quartzite 32 

Quaternaries 45 

Quicksilver 138 

Ransome  Stone 155, 175 

Red  Copper 119 

Red  Granite 30 

Red  Hematite 83 

Red  Hot 24 

Red  Lead 196 

Red  Ochre 194 

Red  Zinc 129 

Reptiles 49 

Rhodocrocite 92 

Ribbon  Vein 51 

Ri  chmond  Coal .\ . . . . 73 

Ripidolite 21 

Rock  Crystal 145 

Roman  Cement 177 

Rose  Quartz 145 

Rosendale  Cement 177 

Rubellite 160 

Ruby 157 

Ruby  Silver 112 

Sahlite 19 

Sal  Ammoniac 185 

Salt 182 

Saltpetre 184 

Sand 44 

Sand  Hills 43 


Sandstone.  .......... 

Sapphire 

Sardonyx 

Sartorite , 

Sassolite 

Satin  Spar 

Schist 

Scotch  Granite 

Scotch  Pig 

Secondaries 

Sedimentary  Rocks 
Segregated  Veins.. 

Selenite 

Selenitic  Cement... 

Seneca  Stone 

Sepiolite 

Serpentine 

Shale 

Shaler’s  Quarries... 

Siderite 

Silica 

Silicate  Lime 

Silicate  Magnesia... 

Silicate  Zinc 

Silver 

Silver  Chloride 

Silver  Glance 

Silver  Ores 

Silver  Saving 

Silver  Sulphide 

Silver  Testing 

Skunk  Limestone.., 

Slate * 

Smalt 

Smaltite 

Smaragdite  

Smectite 

Smoky  Quartz 

Soapstone 

Soda 

Sodium  Chloride... 

Soil 

Spars 

Spathic  Ore 

Specific  Gravity.... 

Specular  Iron 

Sphalerite 

Spicules 

Spiegeleisen 

Spinel  Ruby 

Splint  Coal 

Spores 

Squirt 

Stalactite 

Stalagmite 

Stannite , 

Steatite 

Stephanite 

Stibnite 

Stone  Ware, .... •,,, 
<3> 


Page, 
.39,  168 
....  158 

156 

126 

184 

166, 186 

32 

,.30, 171 

87 

35 

35 


177 

...169,  170 

-154 

...20, 163 
....32,  41 

169 

86 

17 

175 

....20,  205 

..127 

106 

110 

109 

109 

114 

109 

115 

207 

32,  41, 170 

196 

133 

18 

155 

145 

....20,  205 
....16,  183 

182 

46 

197 

86 

9 

84 

126 

38 

90 

157 

61,  68 

38 

.*.*.*165,*  166 
...165,  166 

122 

....20,  205 
...110,  112 

138 

201 


INDEX . 


Page. 

Stream  Tin 122 

Stromeyerite .114 

Strontia 202 

Strontianite 202 

Sub-conglomerate 67 

Sulphate  Lime 186' 

Sulphate  Potash 191 

Sulphide  Antimony 138 

“ Cobalt 133 

“ Copper 117 

“ Iron 88 

“ Lead 123 

“ Manganese 90 

“ Mercury 139 

“ Nickel 131 

“ Silver 109 

“ Tin 122 

“ Zinc 126 

Sulphur ...205 

Sussexite 184 

Syenite 30, 171 

Sylvanite 98 

Sylvite 192 

Symbols 11,  15 

Synclinal 78 

Talc  20,  205 

Talcose  Slates 21 

Tallow  Clay 128 

Telluride  Gold 98 

Ternary  Compounds 16,  17 

Tertiaries 43 

Tertiary  Coals 74 

Tetrahedrite 118 

Texture 6 

Tin 121 

Tinstone 121 

Titanic  Iron 84 

Topaz  159 

Tourmaline 160 

Trachyte 23 

Transition  Rocks 27 

Trap 22 


Page. 

Tremolite  

Triassic 

Triassic  Coals 

Trinidad  Pitch 

Triplite 

Tripoli  .../. 

Turgite 

Turquoise 

Ulexite 

Ultramarine 

Umber 

Upper  Coals 

Uranium 

Yanadite 

Variegated  Marble.... 

167 

Vein  Gold 

Veins 

Verde  Antique 

163, 167 

Vermilion 

Vitreous  Copper 

118 

Vitreous  Quartz 

17 

Wad 

Wagnerite  

Wash  Gold 

Washoe  Pan 

114 

Water 

Wavellite 

188 

Wax 

Whetstone 

White  Lead 

White  Mountains 

34 

Willemite 

Wohlerite 

21 

Wood  Opal 

157 

Yellow  Ochre 

194 

Zinc 

Zinc  Blende 

Zinc  White 

Zincite 

Zinkenite 

Zircon 

153 

Zoisite 

Member  Am.  Soc.  Civil  Engineers.  - 

Member  Am.  Inst.  Mining  Engineers. 

Associate  Am.  Inst.  Electrical  Engineers. 

FREDERICK  H.  SMITH, 

Engineer  and  Geologist, 

Reports  on  Railway,  Mineral,  Industrial  and  other  Properties. 
Places  Contracts  for  Bridges,  Equipment,  Machinery,  &c. 

227  E.  German  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 


EDGE  MOOR  BRIDGE  WORKS, 

WILMINGTON,  DEL. 


BARTLETT,  HAYWARD  & CO. 

Architectural  and  other  Iron  Work — Cast  & Wrought, 
205  E.  German  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

H.  McSHANE  & CO. 

Bell  and  Brass  Founders, 

441  to  465  North  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

MORTON,  REED  & CO. 

Bailroad,  Factory,  Machinists’  and  other  Supplies, 

3 and  5 E.  German  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

THOMAS  K.  CAREY  & BROS. 

Railroad,  Factory,  Machinists’  and  other  Supplies, 
216  Light  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

YAILE  & YOUNG, 

Patent  Metallic  Skylights, 

309  to  311  North  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Prof.  P.  B.  WILSON, 

Consulting  and  Analytical  Chemist, 

304  Second  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

BALTIMORE  NEWS  COMPANY, 

Books,  Magazines,  Newspapers,  Stationery,  &c.,  &c. 
Sun  Iron  Building,  Baltimore,  Md. 


MANUFACTURERS’  RECORD, 

Southern  Industrial,  Railway  and  Financial  Progress, 
Exchange  Place  & Commerce  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


JOHN  H.  SHANE  & CO. 

Book  and  Job  Printers, 

Oyer  12  South  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

BROWN  & LOWNDES, 

Bankers  and  Brokers, 

208  E.  German  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

MIDDENDORF,  OLIVER  & CO. 

Bankers  and  Brokers, 

218  E.  German  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

JOHN  A.  HAMBLETON  & CO. 

Bankers  and  Brokers, 

9 South  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

WILSON,  COLSTON  & CO. 

Bankers  and  Brokers, 

216  E.  Baltimore  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

BARTLETT  S.  JOHNSTON, 

Broker  in  Stocks,  Oil,  Grain  and  Cotton, 

237  E.  German  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 

BALDWIN  & PENNINGTON, 

Architects, 

Farmers  and  Merchants  Bank  Bldg.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

ryan  & McDonald, 

Rail  Road  Contractors, 

Farmers  and  Merchants  Bank  Bldg.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

SOUTH  BALTIMORE  CAR  WORKS, 

Freight  Cars  of  all  kinds.  Capacity,  15  Cars  per  day, 
Farmers  & Merchants  Bank  Bldg.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


[J  MJJd.l  Auu^fy 

(?liv  . . * 


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